Which ministers resigned today?
Although he did not air the names on his networks, prior to the opening of the session in the Senate, Noroña announced the eight ministers who resigned on the last day of the deadline set to do so.
“Here are the eight resignations,” he told reporters.
Noroña mentioned Jorge Mario Pardo Rebolledo, Luis María Aguilar Morales, Javier Laynez, Alberto Pérez Dayán, Alfredo Gutiérrez Ortiz Mena, Margarita Ríos Luna Farjat, Juan Luis González Alcántara and the president of the Court, Norma Lucía Piña.
The only members of the Court who did not present their resignation are Lenia Batres, Yasmín Esquivel and Loretta Ortiz. All three are related to the so-called 4T.
Why did they resign?
In the documents sent by the ministers, they express that they are resigning from the position because this is established by the reform of the Judiciary and that it will be effective as of August 31, 2025. In this way they will have access to their retirement assets.
However, Judge Margarita Ríos Farjat rejected this withdrawal, saying that she wants to maintain her space of dignity and personal freedom, and asserted that she will return the money to the Federation Treasury, but first she will try to donate it.
“To maintain my space of dignity and personal freedom, and as part of that rejection, I choose not to accept, under such conditions and when the time comes, the payment of the monthly amount of money to which I am entitled as a future retired member of this constitutional court,” he mentioned in his writing.
Resignation does not imply my agreement: Norma Piña
In her resignation letter, the minister and president of the SCJN, Norma Piña, stated that her resignation does not mean that she agrees to leave that position.
The minister, who has a career of more than three decades in the Federal Judicial Branch, maintained that her decision is an act of consistency and respect for the Constitution.
“In accordance with the current constitutional text, in terms of the seventh transitional article, second paragraph of the aforementioned decree, I hereby present my early resignation, with effect as of August 31, 2025, to the position that I have been holding as Minister of the Supreme Court for all corresponding constitutional and legal effects,” reads the resignation letter sent to the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Senators.
“This resignation does not imply my agreement with the separation of the position for which I was originally appointed until December 10, 2030, but rather an act of consistency and respect for the constitutional text that governs us today.”
Openly critical of the judicial reform, Piña also emphasizes in the letter that, since she swore as president of the Court, on January 2, 2023, she assumed responsibility with the “highest” commitment, honor and conviction.
“I had the honor of being appointed district judge and circuit magistrate through competitive examinations, and ratified in my position until being appointed by the Senate of the Republic as minister of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation,” she adds.
Until now, only two ministers, of the 11 in total, have raised their hands to be candidates in order to seek the position again: Lenia Batres and Loretta Ortiz, although it is contemplated that Yasmín Esquivel will also do so.
The reform of the Judiciary establishes that ministers who do not seek to compete in the 2025 elections must resign from their position effective by August of that year.
The seventh transitional article states that the ministers of the Court, who conclude their position due to not running or not having been elected in the extraordinary election of 2025, will not be beneficiaries of a retirement benefit, except when they present their resignation from the position due October 30th.
