Key takeaways
The constitutional reform introduces several significant changes that impact all industries:
- The popular elections for judicial positions, including judges, magistrates, and Supreme Court justices.
- The establishment of an Evaluation Committee within each of the three branches of government, including the executive, legislative and judicial. Each committee will consist of five individuals of recognized prestige. Such Committee will establish evaluation requirements on technical, professional, expertise, performance and social aspects for nominees. If there are too many applicants for a position, a selection process would be carried out to ensure equal representation by reducing the number of applicants.
- The reduction of Supreme Court justices from eleven to nine, limiting their tenure to 12 years instead of 15.
- The creation of two administrative bodies: one to administer the Judiciary, including the Judicial Training School and the Federal Public Defender's Institute, and a Judicial Disciplinary Tribunal.
- The introduction of " faceless judges," allowing them to work anonymously on cases involving organized crime.
- The establishment of a maximum term of six months for the issuance of the final decisions of tax matters and one year for criminal matters.
- The mandate for the States to adjust their local legislation within 180 calendar days to introduce the popular election of local judges and magistrates.
- The modification of the remuneration of the Judicial Branch. It may no longer exceed the compensation of the President of Mexico, eliminating lifetime pensions for current and future Supreme Court ministers.
In depth
The Federal House of Representatives, the Senate, and the majority of the local legislatures have approved the constitutional amendment proposed by the President of Mexico. This amendment aims to reform the judiciary. The reform became effective on 16 September 2024, one day after the publication of the reform decree in the Federal Official Gazette.
One of the main changes of the reform is the introduction of popular elections for judicial positions, including judges, magistrates, and Supreme Court ministers. This would drastically change the current system by allowing citizens to vote for over 1,600 judicial positions across different courts in Mexico. The goal is to democratize the judiciary and increase accountability.
This judicial reform will be implemented gradually. The elections of judicial positions will be carried out in two phases: in 2025, the Supreme Court ministers, magistrates of the new Judicial Discipline Tribunal, the new Administrative Body, and half of the district judges and circuit magistrates; in 2027, the remaining half. Besides, Congress will have 90 calendar days from the decree's coming into effect to amend federal laws. Such amendments and secondary regulations have not yet been considered in Congress or the public debate.
The reform also mandates that States adjust their local legislation to allow for the popular election of local judges and magistrates. States have 180 calendar days to adapt their local constitutions. Besides, all positions in local judicial powers must be renewed by the regular federal election of 2027.
The election process for the Supreme Court justices will proceed as follows:
- The Senate will issue a call to form a list of candidates.
- The Federal Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary branches will nominate ten candidates each.
- The Senate will verify the nominees' eligibility and send the list to the National Electoral Institute by the end of the year.
- The National Electoral Institute will conduct the election counts and communicate the results to the Senate.
- The Senate will publish the results and send them to the Superior Chamber of the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary.
- The Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary will address any challenges, qualify the process, and announce the results before the Senate begins its first ordinary session period of the election year.
In relation to the 2024-2025 electoral process, the Senate will have 30 calendar days from the reform's effective date to issue the call for the compilation of candidate lists for the special election, excluding nominations of the Supreme Court's plenary. The preparation for the 2025 special election will commence with the first session conducted by the General Council of the National Electoral Institute within seven days of the reform taking effect. The election day is scheduled for the first Sunday of June 2025.
This reform represents a major milestone in the Mexican judicial system. While controversial, it will bring about challenges in terms of implementation and potential politicization of the judicial process. Businesses and legal professionals need to pay close attention to these changes and be prepared to adapt to a potentially more dynamic judicial environment. It is also essential to pay attention to the revision of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement in 2026, the reaction of the Supreme Court justices to this constitutional amendment, and any legal challenges that may be brought against it.
*Yuriria Mascott, Legal Consultant at Baker McKenzie, also contributed to this alert.
