According to university legislation, the case on the alleged plagiarism of the bachelor’s thesis of the minister of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN), Yasmín Esquivel, must reach the University Court, the body responsible for determining if the case merits any sanction and what it would be.
However, first she must conclude the research process that is carried out by the Committee of Academic and Scientific Integrity of the Faculty of Higher Studies Aragon, where the minister is a graduate, after her thesis and that of another student, presented a year before her, had “a high level of coincidences”, as determined by the General Directorate of Libraries and Digital Information Services of the university.
As part of the process, the Integrity Committee of the FES Aragón called to appear no later than this Thursday, December 29, all those involved in the case: Minister Esquivel; the thesis advisor, Martha Rodríguez; the synods in their professional examination, to the former student author of the first registered thesis.
After listening to the arguments of each one, he must analyze the evidence and the expertise of the thesis of Yasmín Esquivel, registered in 1987, and that of Edgar Ulises Báez, presented in 1986, both with the same title “Ineffectiveness of the unions in the workers of trust of article 123 section A”, as stated in the thesis register of the UNAM.
So far, the FES Aragón has not made public who makes up the Integrity Committee, a figure foreseen in all UNAM institutions responsible for deliberating on conflicts in ethical aspects in research, academia or culture, and whose members must be public data; Nor has it said when the investigation will be concluded.
According to the operating regulations of this type of ethics commissions, the Committee must issue a resolution or opinion on the case, but could not impose any type of sanction. That is, I could conclude that there was plagiarism, but I would not have the power to invalidate the title.
However, before any resolution, the Committee must give a hearing to the University Court, the collegiate body in charge of knowing and resolving on breaches of University Legislation, allegedly committed by academic staff or students of the UNAM.
.@lopezobrador_ defended Minister @YasminEsquivel_ assuring that the accusations of plagiarism are because “she has acted with rectitude and has supported our incursions into the judiciary when everyone was against it,” prior to the election of the presidency in the Supreme Court. pic.twitter.com/Bxwi2anokY
— Political Animal (@Pajaropolitico) December 26, 2022
University sources consulted explain that the case is complicated because 35 years have passed since the publication of Minister Esquivel’s thesis, and even confirming the plagiarism with Báez’s thesis, published up to 36 years, the sanction for something like this is not clear.
First, it would have to be analyzed based on the university legislation in force in 1986 and 1987 and not the current one, and with this time away, any fault could perhaps have prescribed. On the other hand, when plagiarism is detected, it is usually immediately, the same as the sanction, but a case in which plagiarism could be discovered decades later, is not foreseen in the regulations.
The case must be resolved by the University Court, which, as explained, “acts as a guarantor of the principles of legality and due process because, on the one hand, it reviews the sanctioning acts issued by the university authorities that refer the cases; and, on the other, by substantiating the disciplinary procedure in strict adherence to due process, previously listening to the person referred and issuing a resolution regarding the merits of the matter in terms of University Legislation.
The members of the University Tribunal are; Gisela Rodríguez Gómez, secretary; the members María Patricia Kurczyn Villalobos, Miguel Mejía Sánchez, Ana Beatriz Castrejón Díaz; the alternate secretary, Janet Becerra Ramos, and the coordinator, Abel Velázquez Cuevas.
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