Demonstrators walk in front of the The National Art Museum (MUNAL) as they protest along the streets after a highly contested judicial reform proposal was passed in the Senate in Mexico City, Mexico September 12, 2024. REUTERS/Henry Romero
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican Supreme Court Justice Alfredo Gutierrez will resign from the court at the end of August 2025, he said in a letter to Senate leadership on Tuesday, the first of several resignations expected following a controversial new judicial reform.
The move further heightens tensions between Mexico's Supreme Court and the governing ruling bloc, increasing the risk of a constitutional crisis with the two powers at loggerheads over the reform.
Mexico is set to choose new Supreme Court justices in an election in June as part of the judiciary's overhaul. Current justices wishing to not participate in the election are required to announce their resignations by Friday, a source from the court told Reuters.
Eight of the court's 11 justices are rumored to announce their resignation on Tuesday, Senate president Gerardo Fernandez Norona said in a press conference.
The 11-member Supreme Court, which will see its head count reduced to nine justices as part of the reform, is considering a challenge over the reform's constitutionality. Only three of the current justices have publicly backed the reform.
"It is necessary to underscore that this resignation does not imply an implicit acceptance of the reform's constitutionality," Gutierrez, who has been a justice since 2012, said in his resignation.
The constitutional reform, passed last month by Congress, paves the way for the popular election of more than 6,500 judges, magistrates and ministers, including for Mexico's Supreme Court.
(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz, Raul Fernandez Cortes and Noe Torres; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Anthony Esposito)
