UPDATE: An Electronic Guide to Mexican Law
By Francisco A. Avalos and Elisa
Update by Francisco A. Avalos
Francisco Avalos had been Foreign and International Law Librarian at the University of Arizona College of Law Library. He obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Arizona in 1971 and his Master of Library Science in 1976. He is the author of several books and articles dealing with the legal system and history of Mexico. He has served as past President and Secretary of AALL FCIL- SIS and has made several presentations on the Mexican legal system at national conferences and conventions. He has been a special consultant to the National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade for the last ten years. He is now retired and does consultant work.
Elisa Donnadieu is a 1997 graduate of the University of Arizona College of Law. She has worked with the Pima County Public Defender’s office since 1998 and continues to do so on a part-time basis. She had been enrolled in the Library Science Master’s program at the University of Arizona and had a fellowship with the University of Arizona College of Law Library.
Published September 2012
(Previously updated by Francisco A. Avalos in November 2009 and August 2011)
Read the Archive Version!
Table of Contents
A. Federal Laws
VII. State Governments
The Mexican legal system has historical roots that go back to 16th century Spanish law and to Pre-Colombian indigenous law. After the Spanish conquered the Aztec Empire, they found an advanced indigenous legal system in place. The Spanish crown did not rid itself of the indigenous legal system completely; instead, it kept those indigenous laws and legal institutions that did not go directly against the Spanish customs or against Church Doctrine. The Spanish Crown also introduced its own laws and legal institutions that were intended solely for Colonial Mexico, legislation that did not exist in Spain. Spain ruled Mexico for over 300 years and consequently left its mark on the legal system of Mexico.
After Mexico finally established independence, it went through a series of different constitutions. The current Mexican Constitution is commonly referred to as the 1917 Constitution. The official name is the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States (Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos). The Federal Constitution is the most important political document in Mexico.
It is the source and origin for all Mexican law. The hierarchy of sources of law in the civil law tradition to which Mexico’s legal system belongs are, “constitution, legislation, regulation, and custom.” The constitution will override all legislation, legislation will override all regulation, and regulation will override all custom. International treaties are also trumped by the constitution. They come after the constitution, and before federal legislation.
Mexico's legal system stems from the civil law tradition. The civil law tradition divides the law into two major areas of law: private law and public law. Private law concerns the legal relationships between individuals. Public law concerns the legal relationships between individuals and the state. The main tenets of the civil law tradition concern areas dealing with persons, things, and obligations, and their relationship. These legal tenets are found and expressed in the most important codes of the modern civil law states: the civil code, the commercial code, the criminal code, the code of civil procedures, and the code of criminal procedures.
Codes in the civil law tradition have been written through the years on the assumption that using a rational scholarly process, rules and laws can be formulated to apply to most all situations that may arise. As a result, codes tend to be very detailed and vast in size. The Mexican codes, like most Latin American codes, borrowed greatly from the European codes of the late 19th century. Individual articles in the codes are not regarded as narrow rules. If no applicable article is found for a given situation, several articles may be viewed in combination, and a general rule may be deduced from the articles to reach a solution. Ideally, the code article or articles that are relevant are found and applied in an almost mechanical fashion to the given situation with no need for any legal interpretation.
Of course, in practice in our modern complex world all situations of possible legal conflict cannot be foreseen and provided for. Many situations occur where legal interpretation is required. In these situations the fact that the civil law tradition had its origins in the universities and not in the courts is significant. The civil law tradition was developed by legal scholars and not by judges and lawyers, as is the case with the common law tradition. Thus, the "authorities" of the civil law tradition were, and continue to be, legal scholars and not judges and lawyers.
The legal scholars of the civil law tradition produce legal treatises that are referred to as doctrine ("doctrina" in Mexico). Civil law tradition judges, lawyers, and law students will refer to the doctrine of the leading legal scholars as common law tradition judges, lawyers, and law students will refer to case law. According to John H. Merryman, "the law in a civil jurisdiction is what the scholars say it is."
Although the principle of "stare decisis" is not recognized in the civil law tradition, the Mexican judiciary does create case law to some extent. The Supreme Court and federal collegiate courts may establish formally binding precedent called "jurisprudencia." "Jurisprudencia" is established by having five consecutive and consistent decisions on a point of law. "Jurisprudencia" is binding on the court that established it and on all lower federal and state courts. Many of the legal treatises listed in the guide have the word "jurisprudencia" in their title. It is important to remember that in these instances "jurisprudencia" means case law and not the general study of law.
According to article 40 of the Mexican Constitution, Mexico is a "federal, democratic, representative Republic composed of free and sovereign States”. There is a centralized federal government and 31 individual state governments. Mexico City, the national capital, is located in the Federal District.
Articles 49 to 107 of the Constitution established the organization and division of the powers of the federal government. The federal government is divided into three separate and independent branches of powers. They are the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch and the Judiciary Branch. Article 49 states that each branch of power is independent of the others, and that no two or more can be united in one person or one institution.
Executive Branch-Articles 80 to article 93 of the Constitution established the Executive Branch. The President is elected by direct popular vote to a six-year term with no possibility of reelection. The Mexican Constitution empowers both the executive and the legislative branches to initiate legislation, but only the Chamber of Deputies can initiate bills concerning loans, taxes, imposts, and the recruitment of troops. Each new bill must pass both Chambers by a majority vote. Once a piece of legislation is passed by the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, the bill is sent to the president for promulgation of the bill. The president has the power of the veto, which the legislative branch can override by a two-thirds vote in each Chamber. Although the Constitution limits the executive as to the type of legislation it can initiate, in practice the executive branch initiates almost all legislation and certainly all legislation of any consequence
The president then has the new law published in the official government newspaper (Diario de la Federación). The president also issues the "reglamento" for the new law-the rules and regulations that give effect to the more general provisions of the new law. The "reglamento" has the same force as the new law to which it refers.
The executive branch is also is responsible for initiating and negotiating international matters such as bilateral treaties, unilateral treaties and international conventions, with Senate approval. The President also has broad powers of appointment which not only include his cabinets, but covers such diverse areas as congressional appointments, military appointments and judicial appointments to mention some, with Senate approval.
The executive is empowered by the constitution to assume sole control of the government in case of emergencies. The emergencies and procedures for the executive to assume sole control of the government are defined and articulated in Article 29 of the Constitution. The executive branch of government in Mexico has the most political power.
President - This is the president’s official website, which is also available in English. The President is elected to a six-year term with no possibility of reelection.
Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados) – Articles 50 to article 79 of the Constitution establish the Legislative Branch. The legislative branch is comprised of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Legislative sessions begin on September 1 and must end by December 31; although, a special session may be called by, and only by, the Permanent Committee. The Permanent Committee is composed of 15 deputies and 14 senators, and is elected by their respective chambers at the end of each regular legislative session.
There are 500 Deputies in the Chamber of Deputies. 300 Deputies are elected by direct popular vote. The remaining 200 seats are allocated on the basis of each political party’s popular vote. The Deputies are elected to a three (3) year term. The Deputies can serve more than one term, but cannot be reelected for an immediately succeeding term.
Deputies are elected to a three (3) year term and there is one deputy for every 250,000 people in a state. Three-fourths of the deputies are elected by direct popular vote, with the remaining one-fourth selected in proportion to the votes received by each political party. They also cannot be reelected for an immediately succeeding term.
The Chamber of Deputies is the only branch that may initiate bills concerning loans, taxes, imposts, and the recruitment of troops. However, in practice the executive branch initiates almost all legislation. The official website (in Spanish) for all such legislation can be found here. It provides a complete collection of over 230 codes, statutes, laws, regulations and other legal materials. The materials are all in Spanish and are updated on a regular basis. The site lacks a search engine, but the materials can be accessed by name and article number. I highly recommend this site for all Mexican legal research. This site is not for the novice. The site is free.
Senate- The Senate (Cámara de Senadores) has 128 members. Ninety-six of Senators are elected in three-seat constituencies (corresponding to the nation's 31 states and one Federal District) and 32 are elected by proportional representation on a nationwide basis. In the state constituencies, two seats are awarded to the plurality winner and one to the first runner-up. All Senators serve a six year term running concurrently with the newly elected president. Senators cannot be reelected for an immediately succeeding term.
Judiciary Branch – Articles 94 to article 107 of the Constitution establish the Judiciary Branch. There are no elected judges in Mexico, they are all appointed. Supreme Court - The Supreme Court has final appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts. It is composed of 11 Justices and one (1) Chief Justice. The justices are nominated by the President and the Senate may approve with a 2/3 majority; however, if the Senate fails to act within 30 days, the appointment becomes automatic. The Justices are appointed with life tenure but they may be removed by the President with the approval of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.
Supreme Court - The Supreme Court has final appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts. It is composed of 11 Justices and one (1) Chief Justice. The justices are nominated by the President and the Senate may approve with a 2/3 majority; however, if the Senate fails to act within 30 days, the appointment becomes automatic. The Justices are appointed with life tenure but they may be removed by the President with the approval of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. There are no elected judges in Mexico, they are all appointed.
Constitution- The Constitution calls for a federal democratic republic composed of free and sovereign states. There is a centralized federal government and individual state governments. The Mexican Constitution is based on seven (7) basic principles: a declaration of human rights, national sovereignty, division of powers, the representative system, a federal structure, constitutional remedies, and the supremacy of the state over the church. The Constitution calls for an active government that has a moral obligation to not only promote human and political rights, but also economic, social and cultural rights. The Constitution is seen as an instrument that should bring social change. All power is derived from the people
The Constitution is divided into nine sequential titles. The titles are subdivided into chapters, which are not sequential. The chapters are further subdivided into articles, which are sequential throughout the Constitution. The Constitution also has transitory articles. All Mexican states have their own state constitution. The Mexican Constitution can be found here , and an English version can be found here.
Federal Civil Code (Código Civil Federal) - The Mexican Federal Civil Code is the most important piece of legislation after the Mexican Constitution. The scope and coverage of the Civil Code is extremely broad. The Civil Code reflects the revolutionary spirit and nationalism of the Mexican Constitution of 1917. In the Civil Code, community interests override individual interests; private property rights are not absolute.
The Civil Code consists of over 3,000 individual articles organized into books, titles, chapters, articles and sections. There are four books in the Code; Book 1, Persons (individuals and corporations), Book 2, Property, Book 3, Succession, Book 4, Obligations. The Code articles are numerically arranged, with each article getting a unique number. This means that all you need to find a particular provision in the Civil Code is the article number, and not the book number, title number and chapter number. The Mexican States have their own civil codes, most of which are copies or are based on the Federal Civil Code.
The civil code has been translated into English; none could be found on the Internet; one website where it is available in Spanish is here.
Federal Procedures Code (Código Federal de Procedimientos Civiles) - The Federal Code of Civil Procedure consists of 577 Articles that are divided into 4 books. The main parts of book 1 deals with rules concerning who can participate in a federal civil action, federal civil jurisdiction vs. state civil jurisdiction, rules of evidence rules and appeals. Book 2 mainly covers filing procedures and the enforcement of decisions. Book 3 deals with special procedures for certain topics such as successions disputes, property boundaries disputes, expropriation maters, and voluntary jurisdiction. Book 4 covers international cooperation. Book 5 deals with class actions suits, double Jeopardy, judiciary expenses. The Federal Procedures Code in Spanish can be found here. I could not find an English version of the code that provided free Access.
Commercial Code - The Commercial Code has wide application in Mexico. It is federal code because commercial matters fall under federal jurisdiction. Commercial code regulates: all commercial activity including contracts, documentary credit, credit institutions, land and water transportation, bankruptcy and arbitration. It also covers procedures for commercial litigation.
The Code is organized into five books. Book 1 covers Merchants, Book 2 covers Overland Commerce, Book 3 has been repealed (it covered maritime commerce), Book 4 covers Bankruptcy, and Book 5 covers Mercantile Actions. The Code is further subdivided into titles, chapters and articles (over 1460 articles). There exists in Mexico further commercial legislation that is not part of the Commercial Code. The Mexican States do not have their own commercial code. There are several versions of the Commercial Code in translations. A Spanish version of the Commercial Code can be found here.
Mexico has a federal criminal Code and 31 state criminal codes, as found in the United States. There is also one Federal Criminal Procedures Code with jurisdiction throughout the country for federal matters, and 31 state criminal procedures codes with jurisdiction within each state for state matters. I have not found English versions of the Federal Criminal Code or Criminal Procedures Code. A Spanish language version of the Federal Criminal Code can be found here and a Spanish language version of the Federal Criminal Procedures Code can be found at here.
For Case Law (“Jurisprudencia” and “Tesis Sobresalientes”) See Supreme Court. Cases can be found here.
Diario Oficial de la Federación - In Civil Law tradition the country’s legal matters/legislation must be published in the “Official Gazette” before it can go into effect. The gazettes, which are legal newspapers, are known as “diarios” or “gacetas” in Mexico, and are published on a daily basis by the government. This is the official source for all new legislation.
The Diario Oficial de la Federación can be found online for free here. The site is in Spanish, but site offers a translation option that is very good.
The starting point for nearly all Mexican legal research is a code, a law, or a statute. Once the relevant legislation is determined, the specific code article or articles that apply to the specific situation must be located. Keyword searching, as used in most legal research, is not applicable in Mexican legal research. Mexican codes do not have indexes; instead codes provide a short, general table of contents. The table of contents can be located either at the front or at the back of the code.
In Mexican legal research, the search is done by thinking in broad, general legal concepts and then working down to the specific. As an example, the search in the Mexican civil code for the divorce articles would not start with "divorce" but with "of persons" since divorce deals with a relationship of persons. Under the "of Persons" heading one would find divorce, marriage, adoptions, birth registration, death registration, and other matters relating to a person as a legal entity. A person becomes a legal entity at birth and loses this capacity at death.
The second step in Mexican legal research involves finding the doctrine that applies to the situation under study. Most of the doctrine is organized by legislation articles chronologically, which makes for easy access. As is the case with legislation, the doctrinal treatises do not have indexes with few exceptions, but provide only a short, general table of contents.
The third step in Mexican legal research is the most difficult step. This step involves searching for Supreme Court "jurisprudencia" and "tesis sobresalientes." "Tesis sobresalientes" are case decisions of note that have persuasive value, but are not binding on lower courts as is the case with "jurisprudencia." Decisions of the Supreme Court are officially published in the "Semanario Judicial de la Federación" (Judicial Weekly of the Federation).
Your law library may have them depending on their international/foreign law collection. You may also purchase a subscription on line.
Each Mexican State has its own “Diario”. They are also known as “gacetas” and “boletines”.
the different State governmental agencies. There is a link to the State Attorney General, once
there you can access pages on how to report different crimes and on crime prevention. You can
search the site - also there is a link to the legislature, which provides its history, the current
legislation as well as a directory of the different commissions and committees.
NAFTA - Duke Law- The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was implemented on January 1, 1994. It is designed to remove tariff barriers between the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Introduction - Text of the Agreement - Background Information - Dispute Resolution”.
NAFTA-“This guide is an introduction to the research process that, while not being an exhaustive list of information resources available, should be helpful in getting started in your research about NAFTA. Below you will find pointers to suggested research terms about NAFTA, materials in the library catalog about NAFTA, websites relevant to NAFTA, and links to library databases that contain information about NAFTA”.
NYU Law, Library - Nafta Guide- This guide lists essential sources for researching the North American Free Trade Agreement system. The main tabs have general sources not listed under the drop-down menus. Links go to online sources or to more information about print sources.
NAFTA Works-Mexico's Ministry Of The Economy Website. The site is in English and very complete on all NAFTA related matters.
“General Information about NAFTA” NAFTA Full text in English · NAFTA Full text in Spanish ... Doing business with Mexico”.
- Jorge A. Vargas’ “Best Mexican Websites”.
· American Law Sources On-line -“The home of American Law Sources On-line providing a comprehensive, uniform, and useful compilation of links to freely accessible on-line sources of law for the United States and Canada”. With links to Mexican resources.
· The Law Library of Congress, the Mexico page.
· -Online guide to the law and legal materials of Mexico by Jorge A. Vargas. A very good introduction written for LLRX.com.
· -“Mexican laws S.A. de C.V. is a Mexican corporation that provides English translations of current Mexican legislation. Translations are organized using the basic structure of oversight and enforcement under Mexican law”. This is a pay site, with some free resources.
Librería de Porrúa Hermanos y Cía S.A. de C.V is the premiere publisher and distributor
of legal materials in Mexico.
Andrade specializes in primary materials in loose-leaf format. Their collections are
Editorial Themis, S.A. de C.V. Themis offers some primary materials in English.
The Google Translate site is a good site that I would recommend. This site is as good as other free translation sites.
Paralink is a good site that I would recommend. This site is as good as other free translation sites.
ImTranslator is a good site that I would recommend. This site is as good as other free translation sites.
Babylon Online Translation is a good site that I would recommend. This site is as good as other free translation sites.
Free-Translator is a good site that I would recommend. This site is as good as other free translation site.