Mexico’s highest court ruled Nov. 15 that the recently enacted "military policing" law is unconstitutional. Mexico passed the controversial Internal Security Law in December 2017, establishing a legal framework for employing the national army and navy in place of civilian police forces in order to combat increasing violence in the country. Legislators argued that many of the local police forces had become corrupted by drug cartels and that drastic measures were required. The bill drew widespread criticism from a wide variety of sources, including human rights groups and the UN.

The court's ruling comes on the heels of president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s release earlier this week of his security plan for addressing the drug cartel violence in Mexico. Lopez Obrador's plan includes incorporating elements of the army and navy with the federal police force to create a new National Guard for policing the country. In the wake of the Supreme Court decision, López Obrador vowed to seek constitutional reform to allow the use of the military in domestic policing actions.

From Jurist, Nov. 16. Used with permission.