On Sept. 1, 2025, Mexico inaugurated a newly constituted Supreme Court that emerged from the nation’s first-ever popular judicial elections. A year later, Chief Justice Hugo Aguilar Ortiz issued the new Court’s first annual report, in which he highlighted as its chief accomplishments austerity, proximity to the people, and autonomy balanced by collaboration between branches of government. 

“This year of work has served to dispel doubts: the Federal Judiciary is autonomous,” Aguilar said at the inauguration ceremony attended by President Claudia Sheinbaum and members of her cabinet. “It functions and works to deliver the results the people demand,” 

Aguilar stated that the Court is undergoing a transformation in how it administers justice, a theme reflected in the title of the inaugural event itself: “A Year of Real and True Justice: A New Way of Understanding and Administering Justice,” 

“Today, the people hold sway over the Judiciary,” he said. “We have left behind the era when rulings were handed down behind the public’s back and in the service of a select few interests.”

According to Aguilar, one of the justices’ primary objectives during their first year in office was to address the 1,479 pending cases inherited by the new Court, of which 97% were resolved. The figure, in addition to the new cases, totaled 15,051 cases discussed and 13,231 resolved throughout the year.

Another priority was to bring justice closer to sectors that have historically faced greater difficulties in accessing the judicial system. 

“Our priority has been to open the doors of this Court to Indigenous communities, women, and historically excluded sectors,” he said.

The Court’s autonomy was another major theme of his address. Aguilar stated that even though the Judiciary has remained independent from the other branches of government, this “does not imply distance.”  

Finally, Aguilar noted that the Court currently operates under a “policy of strict republican austerity, with zero luxuries, zero excessive budgets, and total transparency regarding every peso spent by the Supreme Court.”

But what do the former justices think? 

Retired Justice Javier Laynez Potisek questioned Aguilar’s assessment, noting that the newly constituted Court has handled fewer cases than its predecessor, and that the figures Aguilar cited do not necessarily reflect improved operations.

“Over a similar period, they heard 35% fewer cases than the previous Court,” Laynez told MVS Noticias, adding that amassing statistics may serve  to construct a favorable narrative regarding an institution’s performance, but it does not necessarily allow for an assessment of how it actually functions.

“This flood of figures tells us absolutely nothing,” Laynez said.  

Meanwhile, retired Justice María Emilia Molina questioned some of the decisions adopted during the Court’s first year, stating that in matters of importance to the government, the Court has ruled in favor of the State.

“What we have seen is a Supreme Court […] more concerned with defending the rights of the State than the rights of the people who inhabit this country,” she said. 

With reports from La Jornada, Eje Central and El Financiero