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Mexico City. The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) will review an unprecedented case in which Mayan communities in the municipality of Hopelchén, Campeche, seek to have bees recognized as subjects of rights—a legal status that would allow their caretakers to go to court to defend them and demand that authorities take action to protect them and prevent their deaths.
The case—an amparo review proceeding (file number 790/2025)—was formally brought before the Supreme Court this Thursday at the proposal of Justices Hugo Aguilar Ortiz (President of the Court) and Irving Espinosa Betanzo; the decision passed with eight votes in favor and one against, cast by Justice María Estela Ríos González.
“It allows us to examine the ancestral relationship between the Mayan community and bees—specifically, whether indigenous communities can act as guardians of nature and, in that capacity, bring legal action on its behalf—as well as to evaluate the standard of state conduct regarding the ecological crisis,” said Justice Espinosa.
Justice Arístides Guerrero García noted that exercising jurisdiction over this case would enable the Court to establish a precedent recognizing the Melipona bee—which is closely linked to the economic and cultural identity of Mayan communities in the municipality of Hopelchén—as a subject of rights or a legal entity deserving of protection within the framework of the comprehensive safeguarding of indigenous peoples, who have maintained a historic relationship with this species.
