What is happening with the judges in Mexico and why do they resign from participating in the extraordinary election of 2025 for judicial reform?

( Spanish) – Preparations to elect judges in Mexico by popular vote in 2025, provided for in the judicial reform, continue. This Monday, the three Evaluation Committees of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial powers issued the call for the registration of candidates for judges, magistrates and ministers for next year, in what will be an unprecedented election in the history of the country, announced the Chamber of Deputies in a statement.

One day later, this Tuesday, the registration of judges interested in participating in the evaluation and selection process of candidates for judicial positions begins.

The registration of candidates for judicial positions in 2025 coincides with the discussion of the resolution of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation to the draft sentence of Minister Juan Luis González Alcántara Carrancá that proposes invalidating part of the judicial reform, including the voting of judges and magistrates by popular vote, although it accepts the validity of other parts of the reform, such as the election by vote of the ministers of the high court or the elimination of the trust from which the retirements and pensions of judicial personnel come.

The constitutional reform enacted on September 15 established an extraordinary election in June 2025 to renew half of the 1,699 magistrates and Circuit courts. Of these, 927 correspond to circuit magistrates and 772 to district courts in two elections, one in 2025 and the other in 2027, according to data from the Federal Judiciary Council.

But the Senate received a wave of letters from judges, magistrates and ministers who declined to participate in the extraordinary election of 2025. The Senate reported on October 30 that 845 judges, including judges and magistrates, resigned from participating in these elections. So did eight of the eleven justices of the Supreme Court.

Given these resignations, the president of the Senate, Gerardo Fernández Noroña, has warned that the Senate might not accept the resignations of the Supreme Court ministers, mentioning in a sarcastic tone that supposedly they are only seeking to enjoy their retirement benefits.

This Monday, in a more measured tone, Fernández Noroña clarified that contrary to what may have been thought, the retirement of judges who decline to participate in next year’s electoral process corresponding to their current salary will be respected.

“Within the Judiciary they were told that if they did not decline from now on we were not going to pay them their retirement according to the income they have, and that is false, their retirement will be respected based on the salary they have today,” said this Monday Fernández Noroña at a press conference.

President Claudia Sheinbaum also assured that the eight ministers of the Court who are not in favor of judicial reform can resign and take their retirement benefits as established by the Constitution.

“The ministers, only them, it was also established in the Constitution that this may be the case if they resign, they have the right to retirement benefits,” said the Mexican president in her morning conference on October 30.

According to political analyst Ernesto Guerra, there is a clear refusal of a sector of the Judiciary to participate in a constitutional reform with which they do not agree, considering that it breaks with judicial independence.

“There is a refusal to participate in an election that, moreover, means breaking not only with judicial autonomy, but with a career, with a training of many years, and with a judicial career achieved after having reached the position through opposition contests” Guerra told .

The expert adds that there is a position not to appear in a selection process next year, in which “any person who meets these minimum requirements can participate.”

Among some of the requirements established by this amendment, it stands out that people who aspire to any of the judicial positions must have a degree in Law and have obtained a minimum grade average of eight to nine out of 10 in subjects related to the position; In addition, article 96 also states that you must have five years of experience in legal practice, as well as prepare essays and deliver five letters of references written by neighbors or colleagues.

In the case of judges, ministers and acting magistrates, they will have the possibility of participating in the election without additional requirements or evaluation, to give them the opportunity to repeat their position or to aspire to a higher position, according to the constitutional amendment.

The judicial reform also establishes, in article 95, that to elect ministers of the Supreme Court, the Superior Chamber and the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Branch of the Federation by free, direct and secret vote for a period of 12 years and not of 15, as it is currently.

To be elected as a minister, applicants must have a professional degree in Law with a minimum average of eight and nine points out of 10 in subjects related to the position for which they are applying and at least five years of professional experience in the practice. of legal activity.

According to Guerra, another of the reasons that has caused the serial decline of judges to participate in the 2025 election process lies in the election of 10 of the 15 members of the Evaluation Committees chosen by Congress and the president, pointing out that they are all characters related to the ruling party. The remaining five were selected by the Supreme Court.

“These people who have been appointed by the Congress of the Union and the head of the Executive represent a high partisan profile, of sympathy from a political group that today is the ruling party,” adds the expert.

On Monday, Sheinbaum defended the appointments of the members of the Evaluation Committee proposed by the Executive Branch after criticism that suggests a possible partisan bias of some of these candidates.

Civil organizations and the opposition have specifically questioned the election of former Minister President of the Supreme Court Arturo Zaldívar, current coordinator of Politics and Government in the Sheinbaum administration, and Javier Quijano Baz, former deputy in Mexico City.

“Well, they’re not right. There are three people who have participated in the Judicial Branch: a president of the Court and two presidents of state Judicial Branches; and then two lawyers, a young woman and an older lawyer – let’s put it that way – who also have different experiences about the Judiciary and what profiles they should follow,” said Sheinbaum, who assured that the entire process of selecting judges will enjoy total transparency. .

“We are independent judges and the only reason why we do not decide to go to popular consultation is because we will always have the commitment to serve all people and not just a few,” said Juana Fuentes, national director of the National Association of Magistrates. of Circuit and District Judges, the Jufed, last week during a protest outside the Senate.