Supreme Court Mexico requires regular official publicity to avoid censorship

The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) approved today, with four votes in favor and one against, the project with which the Mexican Congress is obliged to regulate official advertising for avoid indirect restrictions in the journalistic exercise.

Mexico, Nov 15 (EFE) .- The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) approved today, with four votes in favor and one against, the project with which the Mexican Congress is obliged to regulate the official advertising to avoid indirect restrictions in the journalistic exercise.

After discussing the project of Minister Arturo Zaldívar, the First Chamber determined that the Legislative it incurred an "omission" that violates "the freedom of expression, of the press and of information," the SCJN said in a statement.

In February 2014 it was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation a decree by which several provisions of the Constitution were amended and established that the Congress should issue, before April 30 of that same year, a law that guarantee transparency in official advertising, but this was not fulfilled.

"The absence of regulation in official advertising encourages an arbitrary exercise of the budget in social communication, which indirectly restricts the freedom of expression ", established the judicial body, in response to the amparo promoted by the organization Article 19.

The resolution obliges Congress to comply with what was established in 2014, and to issue a law before April 30, 2018.

Article 19 described the ruling as "historic" in a bulletin: "Como In the background, the SJCN recognizes the intrinsic value of freedom of expression as a precondition for democratic construction and the need to remove pressures in any way direct and indirect that put this right at risk ".

Also, given that the organ considered the lawsuit filed as appropriate, the resolution" extends the possibilities of the trial of amparo and the endowment of effectiveness ", because it allows that this way is claimed" the violation of a constitutional mandate "focused on the legislation of a field.

" The message is clear: no political body should be above the Constitution, "said the organization.

According to the annual report of Article 19, the Mexican government adds an expense, from the beginning of the sexennium until December 2016, of 34,109 million pesos (about 1,784 million dollars), according to preliminary figures from the Ministry of Public Administration.

These resources public, according to the association, have been "excessive" in the country, and have been used "to muzzle the critical media."

Article 19 requested that, when making the law, the Congress undertakes a "participatory process" where journalists, representatives of the media, academia and civil society organizations are heard. "