The News
Thursday 18 of April 2024

Supreme Court Overturns Veracruz and Chihuahua Corruption Laws


Veracruz Governor Javier Duarte will likely be prosecuted for corruption after his term ends in December,photo: Cuartoscuro/Diego Simón Sánchez
Veracruz Governor Javier Duarte will likely be prosecuted for corruption after his term ends in December,photo: Cuartoscuro/Diego Simón Sánchez
The two states recently passed laws intending to shield their outgoing governors, both implicated in corruption, from prosecution

MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s Supreme Court has ruled unconstitutional two state anti-corruption laws that outgoing governors passed in apparent attempts to shield themselves from investigation.

Many Mexicans were outraged when the governors of the states of Veracruz and Chihuahua pushed through the laws just months before they are to leave office giving them the power to name anti-corruption prosecutors.

The federal Attorney General’s Office appealed the laws, arguing they violated new federal anti-corruption standards. It said the appeals were meant to show “there is no room for tailor-made local laws.”

On Monday, the Supreme court agreed, saying neither law could stand.

There have been allegations of corruption in both Veracruz and Chihuahua, and many feared the now struck-down laws would have allowed the governors to control who would investigate them.