Overview

• Mexico’s 2024 reform shifted Supreme Court selection to popular vote, with nine ministers elected on June 1 to replace the previous 11-member model and its two specialized chambers.
• Hugo Aguilar Ortiz will serve as the Court’s initial two-year president, and the new bench is described as more diverse with five women and four men from varied professional backgrounds.
• The incoming Court faces a backlog estimated between about 1,350 and more than 1,500 cases, including high-profile tax litigation involving Grupo Salinas for 35 billion pesos.
• The reform imposes strict operating rules that include a six-month deadline to resolve each case and nonrenewable terms, with transitional provisions that stagger current tenures to eight or eleven years and extend those of sitting ministers Lenia Batres, Yasmín Esquivel and Loretta Ortiz.
• Opposition parties and legal scholars question the Court’s independence after low voter turnout of about 12.4% and the perception of strong ruling-coalition influence over candidates.