Mexico's Supreme Court Upholds Creation of Pension Fund for Well-being

Mexico's Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) has validated the creation of the Fund for Well-being Pensions, a decree enacted by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador during his final year in office. The decision was unanimous among the court's justices, led by Hugo Aguilar Ortiz, approving Minister Loretta Ortiz Alhf's project.

Opposition federal deputies had filed an action of unconstitutionality, claiming the decree was flawed because it did not specify how the resources would be used, nor did it define operating rules or a return mechanism. However, Minister Ortiz Alhf argued that the resources in individual accounts remain the property of the workers or pensioners at all times. "In that sense, from the study of the challenged decree, it is noted that the reform does not authorize the appropriation of individual accounts by the state nor extinguishes the right of their holders; it only modifies the way certain unclaimed resources are administered," she stated.

Ortiz asserted that the norm does not imply expropriation of workers' funds. "It is a topic that generated much concern, it was thought to be a kind of confiscation, expropriation, or deprivation of property, the workers' funds; it is not like that. The only thing happening is that the administrator is changing to a different mechanism, but with all guarantees," she explained. The court concluded that the transfer of resources does not constitute expropriation, confiscation, or loss of property, as ownership remains with the workers or pensioners. The right to claim these funds is imprescriptible, meaning there is no deadline for workers or their beneficiaries to request their return, even after the funds have been transferred to the new administration.

The ruling also guarantees legal certainty and security. The law includes mechanisms to protect these resources, such as individualized registration, generation of returns, and a financial reserve to ensure their reimbursement. The court's decision aims to assure the public that workers' savings are secure under the new administrative framework.