Mexico’s highest court judge quits, and more are likely to follow

Justice Alfredo Gutierrez of the Mexican Supreme Court said in a letter on Tuesday that he will be leaving the court at the end of August 2025. This is the first of many resignations that are expected after a controversial change to the way the courts work.

This makes things even worse between Mexico’s Supreme Court and the ruling group. There is a greater chance of a constitutional crisis since Congress, the president, and the court are still fighting over the reform.

As part of the change, Mexico will hold an election in June to choose new Supreme Court justices. Judges will be chosen by the people.

An insider at the court told Reuters that current judges who don’t want to run for office must formally quit by Friday.

In a news meeting, Senate president Gerardo Fernandez Norona said that eight of the court’s eleven judges are reported to be quitting on Tuesday.

As a result of the reform, the Supreme Court will have nine judges instead of eleven. The court is thinking about filing a constitutional challenge to the reform. Just three of the present judges have spoken out in favor of the change.

In his resignation letter, Gutierrez, who has been a judge since 2012, said, “It is important to stress that this resignation does not imply an implicit acceptance of the constitutionality of the reform.”

The constitutional change that was suggested by former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and passed by Congress last month with strong support from the ruling Morena party makes it possible for the people to choose more than 6,500 judges, magistrates, and ministers, including the Supreme Court of Mexico.

The new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, who was Lopez Obrador’s student, is now in charge of putting the change into action and holding polls across the whole country.

According to Gustavo Flores-Macias, an expert in government and public policy at Cornell University, Gutierrez’s departure is more likely to be a show of support than a real challenge to the change.

Flores-Macias said the action “should be seen as a clear sign of protest” against the change. “He’s making a point in his resignation letter to highlight the importance of the judiciary remaining beyond the political tides of the moment.”

The strong push by Morena to change the justice system, which has the backing of both Lopez Obrador and Sheinbaum, has caused problems with the US and Canada, which are Mexico’s main trade partners.

As a result of their public criticism of the change, Lopez Obrador slammed the representatives of both countries and said that he had “suspended” contact with them.

Sheinbaum and Ken Salazar, who is the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, have both said in the past few weeks that things are still going smoothly between the two countries.