Victor Fuentes/Reform Agency
Thursday, April 20, 2023 | 12:52
Mexico City.- The Supreme Court of Justice determined that the ruling annulling the transfer of the National Guard (GN) to the Ministry of National Defense, will take effect as of January 1, 2024.
The foregoing, explained Minister Juan Luis González Alcántara, so that the agencies involved can make all the necessary administrative, operational and budgetary adjustments.
The Plenary of the Court invalidated last Tuesday the reform of September 2022 to secondary laws by which the Government intended to transfer control of the GN to the Sedena, for violating article 21 of the Constitution, which establishes that the corporation is of civil nature and must be attached to the Ministry of Public and Citizen Security (SSPC).
However, at the end of the session, several Ministers expressed concern about the practical effects of the sentence, given that the 2019 Constitutional reform that created the GN, did allow the temporary participation of the Sedena and the Secretary of the Navy in the process of formation of said corporation, made up almost entirely of military and naval police.
In today’s session, after a private discussion, González Alcántara proposed postponing the start of the sentence’s effects until January 1 of next year, which means that, in the remaining eight months and days of 2023, the reform will remain in force.
“During this period, the departments involved will have the necessary time to gradually adjust the administrative, budgetary, and operational control of the GN, which, by mandate of Article 21 of the Constitution, corresponds to the Secretariat of the Public Security branch. This period will allow the aforementioned adjustment to be carried out in a full, gradual and orderly manner”, said González Alcántara.
The proposal was approved by nine Ministers, with Arturo Zaldívar and Yasmín Esquivel voting against, who also opposed annulling the transfer of the Guard to the Sedena.
After all, no deadline was set for Congress to issue new legislation, but it was mentioned that there will have to be adjustments in the 2024 Expenditure Budget, so that the resources for the GN are assigned to the SSPC.
Last October, a federal judge from Irapuato granted a definitive suspension that prohibits the Government from transferring human and material resources from the Guard to the Sedena, as part of the amparo promoted by a human rights activist.
Said suspension is still in force, although it is about to be reviewed by a collegiate circuit court of Guanajuato.
The Court, which resolved an action of unconstitutionality by opposition senators, at no time made reference to this suspension during its discussions.
In practice, the Sedena is the one that has exercised command of the Guard, whose Commander is the retired Division General David Córdova Campos.
Discuss GN Law
The Plenary has now begun the discussion of an action by the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) against the original version of the GN Law, issued in 2019, a matter in which Minister Javier Láynez took three years to present the project of sentence.
Láynez proposes endorsing the participation of the GN in the control of migrants in support of the National Migration Institute (INM), but nullifying the GN from being able to guard immigration stations, since migrants are not criminals and do not put public safety at risk.
It also proposes to annul that the GN can request geolocation of devices in the case of crimes that are not serious.
In addition, the power of the National Guard for covert operations and simulated user operations for the prevention of crimes would be annulled, since it is argued that this type of infiltration operations should only apply when there are already identified criminals and crimes, and because the Law on GN allows them for any crime regardless of severity.
