Overview
- In a unanimous decision, the SCJN validated the November 6, 2020 decree that reformed 17 laws to extinguish 109 public funds and fideicomisos, including Fonden, the Victims Fund, and the fund protecting human-rights defenders and journalists.
- The Court rejected the opposition senators’ challenge in Action of Unconstitutionality 303/2020, finding no legislative procedure violations with invalidating potential in the approval of the decree.
- Ministers held that the trusts were auxiliary mechanisms for administering public spending, so their elimination does not erase state obligations, which must be met through ordinary budgets, and the Court would not assess policy wisdom absent clear unconstitutionality.
- The justices noted that some affected provisions later ceased to have effect or were abrogated, including changes tied to the Customs Law and the Rail Service Law, as well as the repeal of the Hydrocarbons, Electric Industry, Finance for Rural Development, and Science and Technology laws.
- The decision closes the principal constitutional disputes over the decree after earlier dismissals of challenges brought by eight state governors, and ministers urged maintaining budget guarantees for sectors previously linked to the funds.