The President’s Agreement Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, issued in May 2020, in which it authorized the Army to carry out public security tasks, does not invade or affect the legal powers of the governments of the federal entities and municipalities, determined this Thursday the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation ( SCJN).
With the vote in favor of seven ministers, three Constitutional Controversies promoted by the governments of Colima, Michoacán, and by the City Council of Pabellón de Arteaga, in Aguascalientes, were discarded, authorities who considered that the determination of the president invaded the sphere of their powers .
However, the majority of the ministers of the Court determined that The coordination that exists between the Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection with the personnel of the National Defense and the Navy is constitutional. And the same happens when states and municipalities request the help of the military to support them in public security tasks.
The latter does not mean that the SCJN is now endorsing the militarization of public security, because -as will be remembered- on April 18 the Court determined that the transfer of the National Guard to the Ministry of Defense is unconstitutional.
The ministers clarified this Thursday that on the one hand there is the action of the National Guard, and on the other the public security work that the Army and the Navy carry out themselves, in support of the civil authorities.
As for the National Guard, the Supreme Court gave a period of eight months for the return of this corporation to the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), so -formally- The effects of the ruling that declared the transfer of the corporation to the Army unconstitutional will begin on January 1, 2024.
However, with regard to the support in matters of public security provided by the military and marines both at the federal level, as well as in the states and municipalities, these tasks do not transgress the Constitution, nor the sphere of action of governors and mayors, in accordance with the ruling voted this Thursday in plenary session of the Court.
“Coordination in matters of public security is not distorted, nor are the powers of municipalities or states submitted to the Federation,” said Minister Loretta Ortiz Ahlf, coinciding with the minister-speaker Margarita Ríos Farjat.
The president’s agreement, published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on May 11, 2020, was challenged by Colima, Michoacán, and the mayor’s office of Pabellón de Arteaga, Aguascalientes, because At that time, the Fifth Transitory article of the constitutional reform had not yet been reformed with which the National Guard was created, and set a deadline for the support of the Army in public security tasks, which occurred in November 2022.
Officially, with the vote of the legislators of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the two Chambers of Congress and 20 legislatures of the same number of federative entities, endorsed the reform of this transitory article of the Constitution, extending until 2028 the public security work they carry out. the Armed Forces, which are independent of the National Guard.
In 2019, the year 2024 had been set as the limit for these military activities, but when the Magna Carta was reformed in November of last year, the military will be able to perform public security tasks for four more years, concluding said support in 2028.
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surya palaces Journalist and lawyer, specialist in legal analysis and human rights. She has been a reporter, radio host and editor.