Overview
- The Supreme Court issued the binding standard in a plenary decision tied to Amparo Directo en Revisión 7330/2025 and sent the case back to the colegiado to apply the new rules.
- The Court said judges must perform individualized vulnerability evaluations that consider age, health and physical barriers before deciding what supports an older defendant needs.
- Older defendants must be informed of the right to accompaniment by an agent from the System of Protection for Older Adults when the evaluation shows vulnerability.
- The Pleno clarified that a different judge may preside over an individualization-of-sentence hearing after an appellate court overturns an acquittal without violating immediacy or impartiality principles.
- The Court separately ruled that using the same circumstance to define a crime and as an aggravating factor violates the constitutional ban on double valuation, a limit that could affect how aggravating facts are charged and punished.