Hugo Aguilar Ortiz (born 1973) is a Mexican lawyer of Mixtec heritage. A native of the state of Oaxaca, he is set to be the next president of the Supreme Court after the 2025 Mexican judicial elections of 1 June 2025.
Hugo Aguilar Ortiz was born in Villa Guadalupe Victoria, in the Oaxacan municipality of San Miguel El Grande, in 1973. [1] He holds a law degree and a master's in constitutional law from the Benito Juárez Autonomous University of Oaxaca (UABJO). [2]
In 1996, he was a member of the advisory panel that assisted the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) in drafting a series of constitutional amendments on indigenous rights. [1] [3] In 2007–2008, he served as a consultant with the Mexico office of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on issues related to Indigenous peoples' lands, territories, and natural resources. [2] He has worked as the coordinator for indigenous rights at the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI) since 2018. [2] [3]
Aguilar Ortiz was nominated by the federal executive to contend in the judicial elections held on 1 June 2025. [1] He received the highest number of votes cast among the 64 candidates competing for seats on the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) and is set to become the Supreme Court's next president (chief justice), replacing Norma Piña Hernández. [4]