More Than 800 Judges Take Office in Mexico After First Popular Vote

Only 13 percent of citizens turned out for the vote, which replaced professional evaluations with direct elections for federal and state judges.

The new president of the Supreme Court, Hugo Aguilar Ortiz (left), and the minister of Mexico's highest court, Yasmin Esquivel, receive the staff of office in a traditional ceremony held by representatives of indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples in Mexico City's Zócalo square on Sept.1, 2025. Alfredo Estrella/AFP via Getty Images

More than 800 new Mexican justices, magistrates, and judges were sworn in and assumed their positions in the country’s judiciary on Sept. 1 as part of the government’s controversial sweeping judicial reforms.

In Mexico City’s Zócalo, the Senate, and local communities, 881 justices, magistrates, and judges took part in ceremonies to be sworn into office after the country’s first-ever elections for the Judicial Branch on June 1.