Juan Nepomuceno Silva Meza (born Mexico City

Mexico City

Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

, 13 September 1944), son of the writer Juan Silva Vega and professor Ana Ma Meza de Silva, is a Mexican

Mexican people

Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....

 jurist

Jurist

A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...

. He served as an Associate Justice

Associate Justice

Associate Justice or Associate Judge is the title for a member of a judicial panel who is not the Chief Justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the United States Supreme Court and some state supreme courts, and for some other courts in Commonwealth...

 (ministro) of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation

Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation

The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation is the highest federal court in the United Mexican States. It consists of a President of the Supreme Court and ten Ministers who are confirmed by the Senate from a list proposed by the President of the Republic.Justices of the SCJN serve for fifteen...

 since January 26th of 1995, having previously served extensively elsewhere in the judiciary, including the Federal Electoral Tribunal

Federal Electoral Tribunal

The Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary is a venue within the judiciary of Mexico that specialises in electoral matters. Among its functions are resolving disputes arising within federal elections and certifying the validity of those elections, including those of the President of the...

. On January 3rd, 2011, he was elected Chief Justice for a term that will end on December 31st, 2014.

He earned his law degree at the National Autonomous University of Mexico

National Autonomous University of Mexico

The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México is a university in Mexico. UNAM was founded on 22 September 1910 by Justo Sierra as a liberal alternative to the Roman Catholic-sponsored Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) (National Autonomous...

 (UNAM). He was nominated to the Supreme Court by President

President of Mexico

The President of the United Mexican States is the head of state and government of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces...

 Ernesto Zedillo

Ernesto Zedillo

Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León is a Mexican economist and politician. He served as President of Mexico from December 1, 1994 to November 30, 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted seventy year line of Mexican presidents from the Institutional Revolutionary Party...

 in December 1994 and ratified by the Senate

Senate of Mexico

The Senate of the Republic, constitutionally Chamber of Senators of the Honorable Congress of the Union After a series of reforms during the 1990s, it is now made up of 128 senators:...

in January 1995. He is considered to belong to the Court's liberal wing.
External links=

• Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación Web pages of the Supreme Court of Mexico
• Mexico Court Orders 22 Tied to '97 Killings Freed New York Times August 12, 2009
• Mexican Court Finds No Violation of Rights in Jailing of Journalist New York Times November 30, 2007
• On the Mexican Supreme Court of Justice Ruling on the Halcones Case translation of article by Manuel Becerra Ramirez, Mexican Law Review, number 8, July–December 2007