Eight of Mexico’s 11 Supreme Court justices have submitted their resignations following controversial judicial reforms, the Supreme Court has announced.
In a move that has sparked diplomatic tensions and opposition street protests, Mexico is set to become the only country in the world to allow voters to choose all judges at all levels starting next year.
According to the statement, eight judges, including President Norma Pina, have declined to stand in the June 2025 elections, with one resignation effective in November and the remaining resignations effective next August. added.
The announcement comes as the Supreme Court prepares to consider a proposal to nullify the election of judges and magistrates. But President Claudia Sheinbaum said the court did not have the power to overturn constitutional amendments approved by Congress.
“Eight people are trying to change the reform regarding the Mexican people…do they understand the gravity of it?” she said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Mr. Sheinbaum suggested the previous day that the judge’s real motive was to protect his retirement benefits.
“If they resign now, they will leave with their entire severance package,” Sheinbaum said. “If they don’t quit now, they won’t get any more severance pay…that’s a huge amount of money,” she added.
Former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who passed the reforms in September before leaving office, said they were needed to rid the country of a “rotten” judiciary that served the interests of political and economic elites.
Critics worry that elected judges are politically swayed and vulnerable to pressure from powerful drug cartels that regularly use bribery and blackmail to influence officials.
During his six years in office, López Obrador often criticized the Supreme Court for blocking some of his policies in areas such as energy and security.
Sheinbaum, a close ally of López Obrador, who was sworn in as Mexico’s first female president on October 1, was a strong supporter of judicial reform.
The changes sparked diplomatic tensions with major economic partners the United States and Canada, roiled financial markets and triggered a series of protests by judicial officials and other opponents.
The U.S. government has warned that the reforms threaten a relationship that relies on investor confidence in Mexico’s legal framework.
