Crystal Harper
West Virginia University College of Law, Rising 2L
May 27, 2008
Supreme Court of Guanajuato

Awaken by the tolling of the church bells every fifteen minutes and an anonymous Mexican chanting inaudible Spanish words, day nine in Guanjuanto seemed to be the usual routine. But, by the end of the day, Dia Nueve en Guanajuato- maravilloso, interesante y diversitil.

Today we visited the Supreme Court for the state of Guanajuanto, followed by two stimulating and thought- provoking lectures: one was on the federal court system in Mexico, the other was on the United Nations Security Council Reform and reasons why Mexico has every right to become a permanent member of the Council.

At 900am the entire group and professors met at the steps of the University of Guanajuanto. We walked through the narrow yet busy streets of Guanajuanto and its underground tunnels to eventually emerge on the opposite side of the Guanajuato state Supreme Court.

At the Supreme Court, we briefly met with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Guanajuato. Many of us, especially the females of our group expressed their delight to see a female in such a prestigious and authoritative position. The Chief Justice warmly welcomed us to her great city and expressed her gratitude and honour to have us here to participate in this comparative law program.

Later that morning, her secretary, Alicia, was kind enough to give us a panoramic view of the structure and introduction into the functions of the Guananjuato Supreme Court system. Interestingly enough, the Supreme Court of Guanjuato is very similar to the
State Supreme Court in West Virginia. For example, in West Virginia, where there are many trial courts and one supreme court in the state, the state judicial system of Guanajuato is the same. Another similarity is that the trial courts in Guanjuanto like those in West Virginia have subject matter jurisdiction over a wide array of matters: civil, criminal, constitutional and commercial just to name a few. A third similarity is that both Supreme Court in West Virginia and Guanjuato have a judicial code of ethics which the justices must strictly obey. Violation of these rules will result in sanctions. Depending on the seriousness of the misconduct, discipline can be lenient such as a few day suspensions to more severe, dismissal from the bench.

However, there was one distinct difference between the state supreme court of Guanjuanto and that of West Virginia. Typically, cases on appeal in West Virginia take years before they are heard in the West Virginia Supreme Court. Here, in Guanjuato, that is not the case. In Guanjuato, cases on appeal are heard in less than 2 months. Alicia explained that the justices believe in an efficient legal system and that is why they ensure cases brought on appeal are heard in a timely manner.

Next, we returned to our Guanajuato lecture hall and listened to a discussion by federal judge Jose de Ortega de Peņa. Unlike the state court system which is very similar to the court system in West Virginia, the federal court system is somewhat different. Judge Ortega briefly explained that the federal judicial system is divided into five different circuit courts: criminal court, 2 civil cases courts, 2 labour and public administration courts. Each justice on the court has five clerks on the federal level. He further explained that it is information and access to the law that allow cases to be filed by the litigants and heard in a timely manner.

Global Diversity- UN Security Council Reform to include Mexico.

In the afternoon, Professor Friedberg gave a lecture on the United Nations Security Council Reform. Born in Trinidad, and currently studying in the United States as an international student, this topic is of great interest to me.

First, Professor Friedberg began his lecture by giving a brief introduction into the purpose of the Security Council. Then, he discussed suggested proposals for the UN Security Council Reform and ended the lecture with reasons why Mexico has every right to be a member of the new Security Council.

As Professor Friedberg explained, the primary responsibility of the United Nations Security Council is to maintain international peace and security. Additionally, this organ of the United Nations was designed to enable the world to act decisively to prevent and remove threats. The council is currently composed of five veto- wielding permanent members (P5)- the U.S., Britain, France, Russia and China- and another 10 temporary members selected from regional groupings to serve a two-year term. Professor Friedberg further explained that Article 23 of the United Nations established that this organ as a whole was explicitly linked not just to geographical balance but also to contributions maintaining peace and security.

Next, Professor Friedberg suggested that while there is general disagreement at the UN for the need to reform the council, the security council has been slow to change. Nonetheless, over the years, various proposals for reform in the form of Model A and B have been suggested. These models represent the four major regional areas, namely Africa, Asia and Pacific, Europe and Americas.

Over time, Model B seems to be the more feasible one of two proposed models. Model B provides for no new permanent seats but creates a new category of eight four year renewable-term seats and one new to year non permanent (and non-renewable) seat. Professor Friedberg further explained that neither model involves an expansion of the veto or Charter modification of the Security Council existing powers because in an increasingly democratic era such as ours, its use should be limited to matters where vital interests are genuinely at stake.

So given everything we learned thus far, Professor Friedberg asked the group why should Mexico have a right to UN Security Council permanent membership. First, Mexico is larger than its old metropolis, Spain, and is therefore the country to best represent the Hispanophone world. Second, Spanish is the second most spoken language of the West, after English and Mexico is the most populated Spanish speaking country. A third and final reason is that Mexico is becoming highly literate, has developed a bicameral democratic political system, and therefore has the devotion to modern societies’ democratic rules.

My perspective on the UN Security Council as an international person is a simple one- the reform of the UN Security Council is long overdue- it is about time we had a more representative UN Security Council- one that reflects today?s world and addresses the aspirations of humanity, democracy, freedom, justice, and respect for human rights.