More than 3,000 Mexican academics benefit from provisional suspension with general effects of the new Law on Humanities, Sciences, Technologies and Innovation, a regulation that cannot be applied or take effect throughout the country, thanks to the precautionary measure granted by the Fourth District Court in Administrative Matters of the state of Nuevo León.
In this case, the promoters of the Amparo Trial, grouped in the organizations Ciencia Plural MX and Uniendo Caminos Mexicochallenged the constitutionality of the norm that completely transforms the scientific policy of the Mexican federal government, which was approved last April -via fast track- by the majority of Morena in Congress.
The provisional suspension with general effects granted by the judge Francisco Manuel Rubin de Celis Garza, It implies that the authorities, specifically the National Council of Humanities, Sciences, Technologies and Innovation (Conahcyt), cannot carry out any administrative process that implies the application of the new law, until the merits of the amparo claim are resolved. .
In this case, the determination of the togado not only suspends the rule for the plaintiffs, but also for all academics in the country. So far, according to the lawyer Joan Antonio Ochoa Sada, spokesman for the Uniendo Caminos México collective, more than 400 academics are requesting the protection of federal justice through 41 amparos that have already been admitted in different courts in the country.
“This is part of the line of defense that civil society organizations face before the arbitrary approval of a compendium of 20 laws approved fast track last April 28. Ochoa Sada pointed out.
The lawyer said to HIGH LEVEL that, previously, other academics had already received suspensions from the same law, so the one granted by the Fourth District Court in Administrative Matters of Nuevo León is the first to be granted with general effects.
The intention of the organizations, and of the teachers and researchers who challenge the new Science Law, is “to stop reforms that do not benefit the citizenry and seek to eliminate organizations that took a lot of time and effort to build,” said the lawyer.
First of all, the new Law on Humanities, Sciences, Technologies and Innovation, in force since May 9, changed the name of the National Council of Science and Technology (Conacyt), and replaced it with that of National Council of Humanities, Sciences and Technologies (Conahcyt).
In fact, this institution reported that “it has not received any judicial notification that suspends the general effects of the law”, so -for said authority- the norm continues to be valid.
“In this sense, the file, the complainants, as well as the court or tribunal that supposedly issued said determination are unknown,” Conahcyt explained in a statement in which it disqualifies the plaintiff organizations.
According to that authority, these groups have been characterized “for attacking the Mexican government through the instrumentalization of the law with the purpose of stopping the advance of the Fourth Transformation (sic)”.
The institution, which is directed by María Elena Álvarez-Buylla, also announced that -if it were the case- “will challenge the judicial resolutions that seek to stop the application” the law.
“All legal actions within the scope of its competence will be carried out to defend its application, since it is the first legal instrument in the country that protects and guarantees the right of the people of Mexico, individually and collectively, to enjoy of the benefits of the development of science and technological innovation”.
Regressive and exclusionary norm
The new Law on Humanities, Sciences, Technologies and Innovation significantly decreases the academic members of its Governing Board, excluding the representatives of the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN), and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and the Autonomous Metropolitan University (UAM).
Similarly, the departure of the Conahcyt Governing Board from the scientific associations and academies, from the Public Research Centers, and from the National Association of Universities and Institutions of Higher Education (Anuies) is also provided for. At the same time, incorporates members of the Secretary of National Defense and the Navy into said governing body.
In turn, the law establishes that Conahcyt resources, scholarships, and in general all the support that was previously granted to Mexican academics, will now only be received if they are attached to a program considered strategic by the same institution. which limits academic and research freedom.
The regulation also obliges universities and researchers to cede the rights of intellectual property and exploitation of their works and inventions, thereby eliminating the possibility of educational centers generating their own resources.
It also cancels the National Quality Postgraduate Program, with which thousands of students received scholarships from the former Conacyt. Now these supports will be delivered directly to the students without there being parameters that measure the quality of the postgraduate courses.
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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.