After two and a half months of a partial work stoppage, over 3,000 federal judiciary employees in Jalisco have returned to work.
This decision followed a Supreme Court ruling upholding the judicial reform package passed by the federal legislature in September.
The employees will resume full-time duties at the Ciudad Judicial complex on the western part of the city ring road and the Puente Grande penitentiary.
Judges and judiciary employees have strongly opposed the reforms, which aim to modernize and address corruption within the justice system. In addition to electing judges, another key objective of the reforms is to combat widespread nepotism,
This week, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum highlighted Jalisco and Colima as states with particularly high levels of nepotism in the judiciary. Citing an independent study by Mexicanos Contra la Corrupción, she noted that in one branch of the federal judiciary in Jalisco, 33 judges employ 54 of their own children. In Colima, out of 199 employees, at least 136 are related, including spouses, siblings, and children, representing 68.34 percent of the workforce, she added.
A 2022 report commissioned by Supreme Court President Norma Piña revealed that nepotism in Mexico’s judicial bureaucracy stands at a ratio of two family members employed for every judge.