Overview

• Ruling 7–2 in plenary session, the SCJN validated the 2023 law’s fifth transitory article that orders pending applications for new mining concessions to be discarded without further procedure.
• Projects by Minister Lenia Batres prevailed, with President Hugo Aguilar in the majority and Ministers Giovanni Figueroa and Arístides Guerrero dissenting.
• One case involved Rosa Isela de la Rocha Nevárez, whose 2021 filing could not block the reform because, the majority held, a submission creates no acquired right to a concession.
• The dissent argued applicants lacked a right to the concession itself but retained a procedural right to have their requests processed under the rules in force when filed.
• Aguilar said a private petitioner cannot invoke alleged defects in legislative deliberation, and the Court also endorsed related 2023 changes to water, environmental and waste statutes as serving the public interest.