Introduction to Norma Piña and the Judicial Reform
Norma Piña Hernández, the president of Mexico’s Supreme Court (SCJN), initiated the final period of sessions for the current composition of the court, which has operated with 11 ministers since 1997. This setup resulted from a judicial reform pushed by former President Ernesto Zedillo.
Background on the Current SCJN Composition
The current court composition began in 1997 and originally had 11 ministers. Recently, Luis María Aguilar Morales left in November, reducing the number to 10. This final period of sessions will see these 10 ministers working together before the new composition takes over on September 1st.
New Ministers and Their Terms
Following the upcoming election on June 1, nine new ministers will be chosen by popular vote, marking the first time such an election has occurred for SCJN members at both federal and state levels in 19 entities. The remaining 13 entities will hold local judge elections in 2027.
- Loretta Ortiz Ahlf, Yasmín Esquivel Mossa, and Lenia Batres Guadarrama will remain in their positions for 17, 15 years and 9 months, and 15 years respectively.
Session Details and Reports
The recent solemn public session, which lasted less than five minutes, saw the initiation of this final period. Ministers Javier Laynez Potisek presented the report on activities from the first period of sessions in 2025.
- A single acta was created to document recess period matters, and daily reports along with the global report from the Judicial Certification Office were added to this acta.
- A total of 274 expedientes were formed, with 267 related to amparo lawsuits and 7 to constitutional disputes and unconstitutionity actions.
- The SCJN received 1,359 promotions: 91 for the First Sala, 28 for the Second Sala, 1,045 for the Subsecretaría General de Acuerdos, and 192 for the Controversias Constitucionales y Acciones de Inconstitucionalidad Sección.
- Based on Articles 56 and 58 of the SCJN’s regulations, the Recess Commission issued and signed five agreements.
Session Duration
The session commenced at 11:00 AM and concluded with only 12 seconds remaining to ensure it lasted exactly five minutes.
