MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Eight of 11 justices on Mexico’s Supreme Court have resigned and declined to participate in an election for the court scheduled for June, the court said on Wednesday.
According to a statement, the court’s president, Norma Pina, presented her resignation, as did Luis Maria Aguilar, Jorge Mario Pardo, Alfredo Gutierrez, Alberto Perez, Javier Laynez, Juan Luis Gonzalez and Margarita Rios.
Seven of the jurists’ resignations are effective Aug. 31, 2025, while Aguilar will leave office on Nov. 30.
CONTEXT
The resignations are the result of a constitutional overhaul that was enacted last month that requires all judges be elected by popular vote.
The reform requires judges to resign ahead of the June election if they do not want to participate in the electoral process and wish to maintain their pension, or risk losing it, prompting an outcry among judicial workers.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
The slate of resignations heightens tensions between Mexico’s Supreme Court and the ruling bloc, increasing the risk of a constitutional crisis as Congress and the presidency remain at odds with the judiciary over the reform.
KEY QUOTES
“It is necessary to underscore that this resignation does not imply an implicit acceptance of the reform’s constitutionality,” said justice Gutierrez in a resignation letter on Tuesday.
In her letter to the Senate on Wednesday, Rios said her resignation “should not be seen as an implicit endorsement of a (reform) framework that remains controversial.”
BY THE NUMBERS
The 11-member Supreme Court will see its number reduced to nine as part of the reform. Three current justices have publicly backed the reform.
(Reporting by Kylie Madry, Lizbeth Diaz and Brendan O’Boyle; Writing by Brendan O’Boyle; Editing by David Alire Garcia, Cassandra Garrison, Marguerita Choy and Lisa Shumaker)
