Judiciary workers and students hold a giant flag as they block streets near the former headquarters of the Senate of Mexico, known as Casona de Xicotencatl, during a protest in Mexico City. [Rodrigo Oropeza/AFP]
Protesters confront police in riot gear in Mexico City. [Rodrigo Oropeza/AFP]
Senate president Gerardo Fernandez Norona declared a recess after demonstrators stormed the upper house and entered the chamber, chanting, "The judiciary will not fall." [Silvana Flores/AFP]
The judicial reform plan has sparked mass demonstrations, diplomatic tensions and investor jitters. [Silvana Flores/AFP]
Lawmakers were forced to move to a different location, a former Senate building, where they later resumed their debate as demonstrators outside shouted, "Mr Senator, stop the dictator!" [Silvana Flores/AFP]
Demostrators throw white paint on a door inside the legislature's upper house. [Silvana Flores/AFP]
Opponents of the reform, including court employees and law students, have held a series of protests against the plan, under which even Supreme Court and other high-level judges, as well as those at the local level, would be chosen by popular vote. [Silvana Flores/AFP]
The United States, Mexico's main trading partner, has warned that the reform would threaten a relationship that relies on investor confidence in the Mexican legal framework. [Rodrigo Oropeza/AFP]
The changes, which would see federal judges elected by popular vote, pass in lower chamber.
A protester raises a Mexican flag as judicial workers march outside the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN) in Mexico City on September 3 [Luis Cortes/Reuters]
Many employees, including those at the Supreme Court, have gone on strike to protest the proposed reforms, which would see more than 7,000 judges and magistrates elected by popular vote. [Luis Cortes/Reuters]
Mexico's Congress is scheduled to vote on the judicial reforms either on Tuesday or Wednesday, though that vote may be relocated to a hotel or convention centre as a result of the protests. [Henry Romero/Reuters]
To pass the judicial reform, however, would require a constitutional change — and that means the legislation must pass through each chamber of Mexico's Congress with two-thirds support. [Henry Romero/Reuters]
The ruling Morena Party, led by President Lopez Obrador, does have the necessary two-thirds majority to pass the legislation in the Chamber of Deputies. [Henry Romero/Reuters]
Last week, two elected officials in the Senate also shifted their allegiance to the Morena Party, putting the group one seat away from holding a super majority in that chamber as well. [Henry Romero/Reuters]
The US ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, has called the proposals a risk to democracy, but Lopez Obrador said the ambassador's comments violated Mexican sovereignty. [Luis Cortes/Reuters]
Morena and its allies won overwhelming majorities in June 2 elections, and Lopez Obrador has pledged to push forward with other constitutional changes that would eliminate many independent regulatory and oversight agencies. [Luis Cortes/Reuters]
The judicial overhaul, however, is one of Lopez Obrador's last major policy endeavours while in office: Limited to a single term, he is set to leave his post on September 30. [Henry Romero/Reuters]
Tuesday's protests clogged Mexico's City streets, leaving pedestrians to jostle through lines of demonstrating judicial workers. [Henry Romero/Reuters]
Police officers stood near the protesting judicial workers, ready to intervene as the demonstrators attempted to block members of the Morena Party from accessing government buildings. [Henry Romero/Reuters] (Reuters)
US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar held a press conference in Mexico City on Tuesday, where he reiterated his calls for an independent and corruption-free judicial branch. [Quetzalli Nicte-Ha/Reuters]
![Mexico's new President Claudia Sheinbaum is assisted while putting on the sash during her swearing-in ceremony at Congress, in Mexico City, Mexico, October 1, 2024 [Raquel Cunha/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2024-10-01T182246Z_150318112_RC2MBAAOEBHX_RTRMADP_3_MEXICO-POLITICS-1727808492.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
