The judicial reform ruling by Morena and its allies requires the 11 acting Ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice to decide whether to resign by the end of October at the latest, but if they want to collect their retirement pay, they would have to remain in office until August 31, 2025.
After two days of reviewing the ruling that will be discussed by the Chamber of Deputies, sources from the Court explained that the seventh transitory article is designed to oblige the Ministers to continue working during 2025, so that the court is not left without the necessary members to operate while the judicial election is held in June.
“The Ministers of the Court who conclude their assignment by not running for office or not having been elected in the extraordinary election of 2025, will not benefit from a retirement pension, except when they submit their resignation from the position before the closing date of the call indicated in section I of article 96 of this Decree, which will take effect on August 31, 2025,” says the transitional provision.
The key, the sources explained, is that “the closing date for the call” for the judicial election will be thirty calendar days after the publication of the reform, which Morena wants to push forward in September, so that it can be promulgated by Andrés Manuel López Obrador in the last days of his Presidency.
Therefore, at the end of October, the acting Ministers who want to collect their lifetime retirement pension would have to submit their resignation, but they would not be able to leave office until August 31, one day before the nine members of the Court who would be elected in June are sworn in before the Senate.
This applies even to acting Ministers who decide to compete in said election, which is more likely for those who were appointed by López Obrador but do not win.
“If the position is left before August 2025, there will be no right to the retirement pension,” the sources explained, noting that the intention is also to force a sufficient quorum to exist for the Court to make the nominations that correspond to it for the election.
For each position of Minister of the new Court, of the new Judicial Disciplinary Tribunal (TDJ) and two vacant seats in the Electoral Tribunal, the current Court would have to nominate three people, by a majority of eight of its eleven members, while for the positions of District Judge and Circuit Magistrate that will be elected, and which will be about 850, the Court must nominate two people for each position, in this case, by a majority of six votes.
If the current Justices were allowed to resign and go home in 2024, there would be a high risk of not having the quorum to fulfill this function, and in general, for the Court to continue operating and resolving pending matters, which would force the new President Claudia Sheinbaum to appoint interim Justices.
The situation of Luis María Aguilar, former President of the Court who is retiring on November 30, is not clear in the transitional provisions, which do not give him the option of resigning and maintaining his retirement payment to acting Ministers whose appointment expires “before the closing date of the call for applications.”
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