Overview

• Proposed reforms would regularize 954 substitute judges through a special fast-track pathway outside the traditional competitive exam system.
• A separate bill aims to extend the Attorney General’s term to five years and shift leadership of criminal investigations from judges to prosecutors.
• Five major magistrate and prosecutor associations have rejected the measures as politically driven threats to the separation of powers.
• The synchronized ten-minute walkout is set for noon on June 11 at court entrances nationwide after talks with the Justice Ministry failed to yield any concessions.
• The dispute, which has escalated since Félix Bolaños became justice minister in 2021, has drawn warnings from the European Commission and calls for a broader strike if reforms proceed unchanged.