Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation

The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (Spanish: Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (SCJN) is the supreme court of Mexico and the head of the judicial branch of the Mexican federal government. It consists of eleven judges, known as ministers, one of whom is designated the court's president.

Judges of the SCJN are appointed for 15 years. They are confirmed by the Senate from a list proposed by the President of the Republic. From among their number, the ministers elect the President of the Court to serve a four-year period; a given minister may serve more than one term as president, but not in consecutive periods.

Supreme Court building

The court itself is located just off the main plaza of Mexico City on the corners of Pino Suarez and Carranza Streets. It was built between 1935 and 1941 by Antonio Muñoz Garcia. Prior to the Conquest, this site was reserved for the ritual known as "Dance of the Flyers" which is still practiced today in Papantla. Hernán Cortés claimed the property after the Conquest and its ownership was in dispute during much of the colonial period with Cortes' heirs, the city government, and the Royal and Pontifical University all claiming rights. It was also the site of a very large market known as El Volador.

The interior of the building contains four panels painted in 1941 by José Clemente Orozco, two of which are named "The Social Labor Movement" and "National Wealth." There is also one mural done by American artist George Biddle entitled "War and Peace" at the entrance to the library. The building also contains a mural by Rafael Cauduro, which "graphically illustrates the Gran Guignol of Mexican torture", and includes a depiction of the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre as well as "a cut-away of a prison, perhaps the infamous Lecumberri Black Palace where the student leaders who escaped death were jailed."

The Supreme Court building

While this building is still the main home of the Court, an alternative site on Avenida Revolución was established in 2002.

Current composition

Title	Name	Born	Appt. By	Senate Conf. vote	Age at appt.	Elected / Length of service
President	Luis María Aguilar Morales	November 4, 1949 (age ) in Mexico City	Felipe Calderón	91	60	December 1, 2009
Minister	Juan N. Silva Meza	September 13, 1944 (age ) in Mexico City	Ernesto Zedillo	112	50	January 26, 1995
Minister	Alfredo Gutiérrez Ortiz Mena	October 14, 1969 (age ) in Cuernavaca, Morelos	Felipe Calderón	103	41	December 1, 2012
Minister	Olga Sánchez Cordero	1955 in Mexico City	Ernesto Zedillo		40	January 26, 1995
Minister	Alberto Pérez Dayán	December 13, 1960 (age ) in Mexico City	Felipe Calderón	104	51	December 3, 2012
Minister	José Ramón Cossío Díaz	December 26, 1960 (age ) in Mexico City	Vicente Fox	84	42	December 12, 2003
Minister	Margarita Luna Ramos	January 4, 1956 (age ) in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas	Vicente Fox	83	48	February 19, 2004
Minister	José Fernando Franco González Salas	December 4, 1950 (age ) in Mexico City	Vicente Fox	94	56	December 12, 2006
Minister	Arturo Zaldívar Lelo de Larrea	August 9, 1959 (age ) in Querétaro, Querétaro	Felipe Calderón	90	50	December 1, 2009
Minister	Jorge Mario Pardo Rebolledo	February 1, 1961 (age ) in Xalapa, Veracruz	Felipe Calderón	91	50	February 10, 2011
Minister	Eduardo Medina-Mora Icaza	February 1, 1961 (age ) in Mexico City	Enrique Peña Nieto	83	58	March 10, 2015

Presidents

The following have held the position of president of the court ("Presidente de la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación") under the 1917 Constitution:

• 1917–1919: Enrique M. del Río
• 1919–1920: Ernesto Garza Pérez
• 1920–1922: Enrique Moreno Pérez
• 1922–1923: Gustavo A. Vicencio
• 1923–1924: Francisco Modesto Ramírez
• 1924–1925: Gustavo A. Vicencio
• 1925–1927: Manuel Padilla
• 1927–1928: Francisco Díaz Lombardo
• 1928–1929: Jesús Guzmán Vaca
• 1929–1933: Julio García
• 1934: Francisco H. Ruiz
• 1934–1940: Daniel V. Valencia
• 1941–1951: Salvador Urbina
• 1952: Roque Estrada Reynoso
• 1953: Hilario Medina
• 1954: José María Ortiz Tirado
• 1955–1956: Vicente Santos Guajardo
• 1957: Hilario Medina
• 1958: Agapito Pozo Balbás
• 1959–1964: Alfonso Guzmán Neyra
• 1965–1968: Agapito Pozo Balbás
• 1969–1973: Alfonso Guzmán Neyra
• 1974–1975: Euquerio Guerrero López
• 1976: Mario G. Rebolledo Fernández
• 1977–1981: Agustín Téllez Cruces
• 1982: Mario G. Rebolledo Fernández
• 1982–1985: Jorge Iñárritu y Ramírez de Aguilar
• 1986–1990: Carlos del Río Rodríguez
• 1991–1994: Ulises Schmill Ordóñez
• 1995–1999: José Vicente Aguinaco Alemán
• 1999–2002: Genaro David Góngora Pimentel
• 2002–2006: Mariano Azuela Güitrón
• 2007–2011: Guillermo Ortiz Mayagoitia
• 2011–2014: Juan N. Silva Meza
• 2015–incumbent: Luis María Aguilar Morales

Ministers

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

The following have held the position of minister ("Ministro de la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación") under the 1917 Constitution:

• 1917–1919:
• 1919–1920:
• 1920–1922:
• 1922–1923:
• 1923–1924:
• 1924–1925:
• 1925–1927:
• 1927–1928:

External links

• (Spanish) Official site