Mexico’s CJF registered MXN$5.42 billion in property damage

Unnecessary expenses, under-spending of resources, buildings in precarious conditions, and an absence of verification in the use of federal resources were only a few of the irregularities detected during the past administration at Mexico’s Federal Judicial Council (CJF) , which resulted in MXN$5.42 billion worth of property damage.

According to a report on primary findings issued by the CJF’s Executive Management department , the institution was left in said state by the former president of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN) Luis María Aguilar Morales at the end of his term on December 31, 2018 .

The document, which was delivered to the CJF’s board members on March 27, the anomalies were detected in areas such as real estate rent and maintenance, the creation of new jurisdictional bodies, insurance payments, human resources administration, public works, contracts, physical assets, archives, information technologies, civil protection, and models of administrative management in the 2018 federal budget.

Furthermore, the report states that the CJF failed to resolve 797 observations made by auditors and 47 actions derived of all 14 revisions conducted by the Federal Superior Auditors (ASF).

The report was made during the first 60 days following the end of Aguilar Morales’ administration.

In 2018, the CJF secured a budget of MXN$61.83 billion , out of which an under-spending of nearly MXN$5.5 billion was detected. And though the institution underwent a budget cut of 8.7% in 2019, the Federal Judicial Council was left without resources for maintenance and strengthening of infrastructure this year.

“This situation has partially affected some categories of expenditure and investment, which is totally opposite to that which occurred in 2018. Should the government body have implemented corrective measures during the past administration, such as the streamlining of recruitment processes, service acquisitions, or public works projects, there would not be so many expenditure pressures in 2019,” the report states.

The report details that insurance companies hired by the CJF now owe the government body MXN$50.1 million, though Aguilar Morales’ administration does not seem to have demanded debt payments.

Property damage

The CJF currently owns 660 buildings , 52% of which are part of a housing program for magistrates and judges.

In their revision, the CJF’s executive management department estimated that irregularities in the handling of the government body’s properties resulted in a loss of MXN$426.7 million in property damage.

The CJF currently rents five buildings for jurisdictional bodies and archives transferred from the Supreme Court of Justice. However, said buildings are not in use, which is costing the government body MXN$11.8 million a year .

Out of all 660 buildings owned by the CJF, 153 are in a critical condition and another 29 are in need of maintenance in the short to medium term, all of which would cost around MXN$366 million.

The report underlines that the new administration of the CJF has 47 opportunity areas to take action and avoid administrative responsibilities, lawsuits for breach of contracts, unnecessary expenses, and financial pressures.

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