Article 98 Political Constitution of the United Mexican States

When the absence of a female or male Minister of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, female or male Magistrate of the Judicial Discipline Tribunal (Tribunal de Disciplina Judicial) and female or male Magistrate of the Electoral Tribunal (Tribunal Electoral) exceeds one month without leave or such absence is due to their death, resignation or any cause of definitive separation, the person of the same gender who obtained second place in number of votes in the election for that position shall occupy the vacancy; in case of declination or impossibility, the person who obtained the highest vote count shall follow in order of precedence. The Senate of the Republic shall administer the oath to the substitute person to serve for the period remaining in the office. In case of death, resignation, removal or definitive absence of female or male Circuit Magistrates and female or male District Judges, the judicial administration body shall declare the position vacant and it must be renewed for a new period in the immediate subsequent election that corresponds.

The resignations of the female and male Ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice, female and male Magistrates of the Judicial Discipline Tribunal and female and male Magistrates of the Electoral Tribunal shall only proceed for serious causes; they shall be approved by a majority of the members present of the Senate of the Republic or, during its recesses, by the Permanent Commission (Comisión Permanente).

The leaves of absence of the public officials indicated in the first paragraph of this article, when they do not exceed one month, may be granted by the Plenary of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation in the case of female and male Ministers, by the Plenary of the Judicial Discipline Tribunal in the case of its members, by the Plenary of the Superior Chamber of the Electoral Tribunal in the case of female and male Electoral Magistrates and by the judicial administration body in the case of female and male Circuit Magistrates or female and male District Judges. Leaves of absence exceeding this time must be justified and may be granted without pay by the majority of the members present of the Senate of the Republic or, during its recesses, by the Permanent Commission, except in the case of female and male Circuit Magistrates or female and male District Judges, which may be granted without pay by the judicial administration body. No leave of absence may exceed the term of one year.

The judicial officers who aspire to a position by election other than the one they hold shall separate from the position by express and irrevocable resignation, which they shall inform to the judicial administration body before their registration in the corresponding process. The judicial administration body shall immediately communicate the vacancy to the competent authority so that the position is subject to election.