The Plenary of the SCJN declares charges for information in Michoacán unconstitutional

The Plenary of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation declared the invalidity of charges for digitized information established by the Revenue Laws of eight municipalities in the State of Michoacán de Ocampo for the 2026 Fiscal Year, considering that they violate the principle of gratuity of the right of access to information. The resolution, issued in Unconstitutionality Action 2/2026 promoted by the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation number 226/2026 on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, along with the separate vote of Minister Sara Irene Herrerías Guerra.

The lawsuit was filed on January 15, 2026, by the CNDH, through its president, María del Rosario Piedra Ibarra, against provisions of the municipal revenue laws published in the local Official Gazette on December 17, 2025. The Plenary resolved the matter in a session on May 25, 2026, by a majority of eight votes regarding the merits, and ordered the publication of the resolution in the Official Gazette of the Federation, the Official Gazette of the state, and the Judicial Weekly of the Federation.

Norms declared invalid

The ruling annuls the articles that establish charges for digitized information delivered on a magnetic device, per digitized page, or on CD or DVD, related to the right of access to information. The Plenary considered that such fees violate the principle of gratuity recognized in Article 6, Section A, Fraction III, of the Federal Constitution, as the local legislator did not objectively and reasonably justify the cost of the materials for their reproduction.

The municipalities affected by the declaration of invalidity are:

• Angangueo (article 31)
• Buenavista (article 32)
• Charo (article 31)
• Chilchota (article 33)
• José Sixto Verduzco (article 30)
• La Piedad (article 35)
• Lázaro Cárdenas (article 44)
• Los Reyes (article 30)

Effects of the sentence

The declaration of invalidity will take effect upon notification of the operative points to the Congress of the State of Michoacán de Ocampo. The Plenary exhorted the local Legislative Power to determine fees or tariffs through an objective and reasonable method in future similar measures, and ordered the notification of the sentence to the involved municipalities, as they are the authorities responsible for applying the revenue laws.

The separate vote of Herrerías Guerra

Minister Sara Irene Herrerías Guerra voted against the invalidity and filed a dissenting opinion. She maintained that, derived from the presumption of constitutionality of general norms, the plaintiff had to fully demonstrate that the challenged provision contravenes the Constitution, and that her position is consistent with the one she adopted when resolving Unconstitutionality Actions 5/2025 and 15/2025, in which identical norms were analyzed. For this reason, she also ruled against the effects of the declaration.

The resolution reinforces the free access to public information as a fundamental right and establishes a criterion that municipalities must observe when setting their fees, with a direct impact on citizens who request documents from local authorities.

Source: Official Gazette of the Federation, no. 226/2026, August 19, 2026, Judicial Branch, p. 150-168 (official reference: Unconstitutionality Action 2/2026).