Agreement issued relaxing requirements for early retirement of judges

Cesar Arellano Garcia

The newspaper La Jornada
Tuesday, September 24, 2024, p. 4

He Official Journal of the Federation (DOF) published the general agreement of the plenary session of the Federal Judicial Council that reforms provisions related to the Complementary Pension Plan. It considers that judges and magistrates who have held administrative or jurisdictional positions in any instance of the Judicial Branch of the Federation (PJF) may request early retirement at 55 years of age or younger, provided that they have worked between 25 and 35 years, with which they will obtain 45 percent of the complementary pension.

The agreement guarantees that judges who are able to access a pension from the Institute of Social Security and Services for State Workers (ISSSTE) can also obtain the complementary pension, in order to exercise the right to a dignified retirementin accordance with their career and years of service.

It should be recalled that in the Federal Judicial Council (CJF), the general agreement that regulates the supplementary pension plan for magistrates and district judges currently provides for the following retirement schemes: early retirement with a minimum of 65 years of age and 25 years of service, whose beneficiaries receive a supplementary pension determined arithmetically based on years of service and age; for example, at 65 years of age and 25 years of service, the supplement will be up to 45 percent, while at the same age, but with 35 years of service, it could rise to 80 percent.

Supplement of up to 80% of your last salary

Also, mandatory retirement: at age 75, they will receive the equivalent of 80 percent of the gross monthly income of their last position.

The agreement of this Monday that regulates the supplementary pension plan indicates that the holders who opt for the full retirement pension will be made up of the one granted by the ISSSTE in accordance with the applicable regulations and the one assigned by the CJF as a supplementary pension.

On the other hand, according to the system called individual accounts, the total retirement pension will be made up of a base contribution of 10 times the monthly value of the UMA on the day of retirement and the amount assigned as a supplementary pension.

This benefits judges and magistrates, since the ISSSTE Law only allows retirement pensions with a minimum age of 58 years for men and 56 for women. This support will be granted to those who are 57 years old and have 25 years of service, and the supplementary pension can reach up to 52.5 percent if they have 35 years of service. The highest percentage of supplementary pension (80) will be granted to those who are at least 65 years old and have 35 or more years of service.

The percentages corresponding to each magistrate or judge were defined in a table, for which purpose Article 73 of the general agreement of the plenary session of the CJF was amended, which establishes the general working conditions for magistrates and judges.