Mexican Supreme Court judges resign over reforms for elected judiciary

Eight of Mexico’s 11 Supreme Court judges have submitted their resignations following controversial judicial reforms, the top court said Wednesday.

In a move that has sparked diplomatic tensions and opposition street protests, Mexico is set to become the world’s only country to allow voters to choose all judges, at every level, starting next year.

The eight justices — including president Norma Pina — declined to stand for election in June 2025, a statement said, adding that one of the resignations would take effect in November and the rest next August.

The announcement came as the Supreme Court prepares to consider a proposal to invalidate the election of judges and magistrates — a possibility that President Claudia Sheinbaum warned would be unconstitutional.

Former president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who enacted the reforms in September before leaving office, argued the changes were needed to clean up a “rotten” judiciary serving the interests of the political and economic elite.

Critics fear that elected judges could be swayed by politics and vulnerable to pressure from powerful drug cartels that regularly use bribery and intimidation to influence officials.

During his six years in office, Lopez Obrador often criticised the Supreme Court, which impeded some of his policies in areas such as energy and security.

Sheinbaum, a close ally of Lopez Obrador who became Mexico’s first woman president on October 1, strongly supported the judicial reforms.

The changes sparked diplomatic friction with key economic partners the United States and Canada, upset financial markets and prompted a series of protests by judicial workers and other opponents.