In sum, the presidential victory of PAN in 2000, as it is now reflected in the administration of President Vicente Fox, is profoundly transforming not only the traditional powers and the role of the Executive Power in Mexico but, more importantly, is changing the country itself. For political and legal observers it is clear that the so-called “Meta-Constitutional Powers” enjoyed by the President of the Republic during the PRI era, are now being seriously questioned and subjected to what may be described as a cautious but methodical diminution to make them fit within the explicit parameters prescribed by the Federal Constitution. In other words, the political and legal contours of the President of Mexico are in the process of being transformed and re-defined.
This power is vested upon a General Congress, divided into two Chambers, one of Deputies (Diputados) and the other of Senators (Senadores) (Art. 50, Fed. Const.). At the opening of Congress, on September 1st of each year, the President of Mexico submits a written report describing the general state of the country’s public administration (Art. 69, Fed. Const.) analogous to the U.S. State of the Union Address.
The General Congress has annual ordinary and extraordinary sessions (Art. 65, Fed. Const.). There are two periods of ordinary sessions: the first runs from September 1st to December 15th; and the second from March 15th to up to April 30th (Art. 66, Fed. Const.). Extraordinary sessions take place when convoked by the Permanent Commission (Comisión Permanente) to discuss a specific matter (Art. 67, Fed. Const.).
The Chamber of Deputies is composed of 500 representatives of the country elected in their entirety every three years. Of this total, 300 are elected under the principle of relative majority vote (Principio de votación mayoritaria relativa) through the system of individual electoral districts (Distritos electorales uninominales), and 200 under the principle of proportional representation (Principio de representación proporcional) through the system of regional electoral lists (Listas regionales votadas en circunscripciones plurinominales) (Arts. 51-52, Fed. Const.). The election of these 200 deputies is subject to special electoral rules (Art. 54, Fed. Const.). The last election of Congress took place on July 4, 2003. A deputy cannot be re-elected for the immediately succeeding term.
The Senate is composed of 128 senators (Art.56, Fed. Const.) elected for a six-year term renewed in its entirety every election. Thus, there are four senators for each state (thirty-one) and for the Federal District (one). Out of this total of 128, two are elected for each state and the Federal District by relative majority vote; a third one goes to the largest political minority; and a fourth one is given based on the principle of proportional representation (Art. 56, Fed. Const.) A senator cannot be re-elected for the immediately succeeding term.
Any resolution passed by Congress acquires the category of a law or decree (Art. 70, Fed. Const.). Under Mexican Constitutional Law, (1) the President of the Republic, (2) federal deputies and senators, and (3) the State legislatures, have the right to submit legislative bills to Congress (Art. 71, Fed. Const.). Both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate have exclusive powers to legislate in certain areas.
This web site can also be accessed through: www.precisa.gob.mx by searching for: “Suprema Corte de Justicia” or “Suprema Corte.”
Pursuant to the Federal Constitution, the exercise of the Judicial Power of the Federation is vested in four entities: (1) a Supreme Court of Justice; (2) an Electoral Tribunal; (3) Collegiate and Unitarian Circuit Courts; and (4) the District Courts (Art.94, Fed. Const.). Save for the Supreme Court, the administration, monitoring and disciplining of Judicial Power is conducted by the Council of the Federal Judiciary (Consejo de la Judicatura Federal), as regulated by the Federal Organic Act of the Judicial Power (Ley Orgánica del Poder Judicial de la Federación, D.O. of May 26, 1995).
The Supreme Court is composed of eleven Justices (known in Mexico as Ministros or ministers) and functions in plenary (En banc) or in Chambers (Salas), which is composed of five Justices (Art. 94). Every four years, the Justices elect a Chief Justice among themselves, who cannot be reelected for the immediately succeeding period. Justices are nominated by the President of the Republic in a list submitted to the Senate that contains the names of three candidates; the Senate, after hearing the candidates, makes a final selection (Art.96, Fed. Const.). Justices are appointed for fifteen years and may be removed only for serious cause.
The Federal Constitution (Art. 105, Fed. Const.) and the Organic Act of the Judicial Power enumerate, in detail, questions relative to the composition, functioning, obligations, powers and jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, the Circuit Collegiate Courts and the District Courts, including their budget and other administrative matters. In general, the Supreme Court and the federal courts serve as appellate courts to lower federal and state courts.
The Supreme Court of Mexico and the Circuit Collegiate Courts, as indicated earlier, are responsible for rendering especially crafted decisions—known as Jurisprudencias—which constitute the sole instance under Mexican law whereby judicial decisions become legally binding to lower courts and authorities, in something akin to the stare decisis principle.
In addition, federal courts exercise exclusive jurisdiction over Amparo proceedings, resolving controversies arising out of: (1) laws or federal authority acts that infringe upon constitutional rights (GarantÃas individuales); (2) laws or federal authority acts that violate or restrict the states’ sovereignty or the Federal District’s jurisdiction; and (3) laws or acts of authorities of the states or the Federal District that invade the jurisdiction of federal authorities (Arts. 103 and 107, Fed. Const.).
Accordingly, Amparo is a sui generis federal suit filed by an individual (whether a Mexican national or a foreigner) in a federal court against a Mexican authority (federal, state or municipal) for the alleged violation of any of the constitutional rights (GarantÃas individuales) expressly enumerated by the Federal Constitution (Title I). The filing of this kind of an Amparo suit would be expected, for example, when a Mexican is detained by the police and subjected to long interrogatories without a valid cause; when a Mexican is tortured by military personnel; when a U.S. tourist is expelled by agents of Mexico’s National Immigration Institute (similar to the former INS in the United States); when a U.S. attorney is denied a permit to render professional legal services in Mexico; when a U.S. religious cult is denied a permit from Gobernación to open a temple and offer religious services in that country, etc.
The filing of Amparo results in the immediate cessation (injunction) of the violation of the constitutional right(s) invoked by the Quejoso (aggrieved party), as ordered by the federal court (Suspensión del acto reclamado); the mandate by the same court ordering the authority in question to render a detailed report substantiating the case and its involvement (Informe Justificado); and an investigation by a Federal Prosecutor (Agente del Ministerio Público Federal) to determine whether any criminal offenses (federal or state) were committed, including the responsibility of the public servants involved in the case, etc.
Once in possession of all the necessary information, documents and data, and after the initial constitutional hearing (Audiencia constitucional) takes place, the federal court analyzes the evidence and the merits of the case and then renders its decision.
A second prong of a Judicio de Amparo is found when individuals or legal entities challenge the constitutional validity of (1) a given legislative enactment which has already been passed and published in the D.O. or (2) when a legislative bill is in the process of being discussed by Congress (Acción de Inconstitucionalidad). This is the case of the two final paragraphs of Article 103 of the Federal Constitution, and it may consist in a form of constitutional control or judicial review.
Both the substantive and the procedural aspects of an Amparo suit are governed by the Amparo Act (Ley de Amparo, D.O. of January 10, 1936, amended numerous times).
This web site can also be accessed through: www.precisa.gob.mx by searching for: “Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores” or simply “SRE”
This electronic portal makes available the text of the treaties and international conventions entered by Mexico at the bilateral, regional and global levels (including dates of signature, publication in the D.O. and entering into force). It also includes the text of the Mexican Foreign Service Act (Ley del Servicio Exterior Mexicano, D.O. of January 25, 2002), and some historic information on the administrative evolution of the SRE, special programs, a diplomatic glossary, etc.
Mexican Corporate LawFor decades, Mexico has been a very active player in the international legal community at the global, regional and bilateral levels. In recent years, Mexico has enhanced its political and diplomatic presence in Central America and the Caribbean, the European Union, and the United Nations. Today, for example, Mexico maintains diplomatic relations with ninety countries; it has in place 228 treaties and international agreements with the United States and fifty-two with Canada, and maintains forty-two consulates in this country.
Like the United States, foreign affairs in Mexico are exclusively vested (by and through the Federal Constitution), upon the President of the Republic, who operates through the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (which corresponds to the U.S. Department of State). The President is empowered “to conduct the foreign affairs [of the nation] and to enter into international treaties, submitting them to the approval of the Senate.” (Art. 89, para. X, Fed. Const.). In performing this function, the President must abide by the “normative principles” enshrined in the Constitution.
At the domestic level, the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SRE) plays a crucial role in the areas of foreign investment, establishment of U.S. companies, acquisition of real estate involving foreigners and U.S. companies, the entering into Fideicomisos, Permits ArtÃculo 27, and naturalizations. None of these transactions can take place in Mexico without obtaining the corresponding permit or authorization from the SRE.
Outside Mexico, Mexican embassies and consulates render important legal services, including civil registry certificates (i.e., marriages, divorces, adoptions, deaths), official conduit for letters rogatory, taking of evidence abroad, extraditions, issuance of the “Consular I.D.” (MatrÃcula Consular), notarial acts, etc. Given the high number of Mexicans in the United States, the SRE recently established a special program tailored to be in contact with and provide some services to those Mexicans who are abroad (Comunidades Mexicanas en el Extranjero).
3.2 Treaties and International Conventions on Conflict of Laws, Business and Environmental Questions to which Mexico is a party
For legal and business purposes, it may be useful to list here some of the treaties and international conventions to which Mexico is a party. This is not a comprehensive list.
The Federal Code of Civil Procedure prescribes the central principle that governs in the area of international judicial cooperation. In matters of a federal nature, this cooperation shall be regulated by this Code (Book Four) and by other applicable laws, except for what is provided by the treaties and conventions to which Mexico is a party (Art. 543).
The Federal Code of Civil Procedure prescribes the central principle that governs in the area of international judicial cooperation. In matters of a federal nature, this cooperation shall be regulated by this Code (Book Four) and by other applicable laws, except for what is provided by the treaties and conventions to which Mexico is a party (Art. 543).
Regarding international civil litigation, federal and state agencies shall be subject to the special rules, which this federal code sets forth in Book Four (Art. 544). One of these rules provides, for example, that federal and state agencies, and their public officials, “shall be impeded from producing any documents (or copies of them) which exist in the official archives under their control in Mexico; except for those cases which involve a personal matter and the documents or personal archives are permitted by the law and when, through the implementation of a letter rogatory, it is so ordered by a [competent] Mexican court.” (Art. 559).
To produce legal effects in Mexico, foreign legal documents must be duly “legalized” by the competent Mexican consular authorities in accordance with the applicable laws, and be translated into Spanish by a duly authorized translator. However, foreign legal documents sent through official channels to produce legal effects need not be legalized (Art. 546).
Letters rogatory (Exhortos) to be sent abroad by a Mexican court are the official communications requesting a foreign judge to carry out certain procedural acts required by a pending lawsuit in Mexico. Said communications must contain the necessary information as well as certified copies, notifications (or summons), copies of the initial complaint, or of the final and definite judgment rendered by the Mexican court, depending upon each individual case, as may be necessary (Art. 550).
When a foreign judgment requires an act of repossession to take place in Mexico, for example, or any other judicial act to be enforced in that country in an “executive manner” (i.e., against the defendant’s will or his/her voluntary cooperation), said judgment is to be judicially provided by the competent Mexican court with “executive force.” In most cases, the competent court is one with jurisdiction over the defendant’s domicile or over the place where the real estate (or assets) is located. The judicial proceedings to endow a foreign judgment with “executive force” requires, in essence, a “mini-trial” requiring the presence of the two contending parties advancing their respective rights and the corresponding evidence. Under Mexican law, these technical and lengthy proceedings are known as Incidente de Homologación (Art. 574).
The Commission for Environmental Cooperation, established as a result of NAFTA, sponsors an excellent trilingual (English/Spanish/French) web site with very useful information describing the environmental law framework in each of the three NAFTA parties: the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
This information covers twenty-five subject areas, and includes an acronym list and a bibliography. The environmental subjects are: (1) Introduction to the Legal System; (2) Institutional framework; (3) Constitutional provisions; (4) General environmental law and policies; (5) Environmental information; (6) Public participation; (7) Environmental impact assessment; (8) Protection of the atmosphere; (9) Protection and management of water resources; (10) Protection of the oceans and coastal areas; 11) Chemical substances and products; (12) Waste management; (13) Responding to environmental contamination; (14) Environmental emergencies; (15) Private land use planning and management; (16) Environmental management of public lands; (17) Conservation of biological diversity and wildlife; (18) Mining; (19) Agriculture; (20) Forests and forest management; (21) Energy; (22) Transportation; (23) Military or federal facilities; (24) Other environmental issues; and (25) Transboundary and international issues.
This is an excellent web site. It includes some two hundred pages of principally environmental legal information presented in a methodical and clear way. This site is current, authoritative and easy to navigate.
It gives access to the treaties and conventions to which Mexico has become a party in the area of labor law, welfare and social protection.
This electronic portal of the Presidency of Mexico makes available day-to-day information on the most salient acts of Vicente Fox Quesada, President of Mexico, and other members of his administration, including sporadic reports on current legal developments. Although some information is also available in English and French, the most complete information is found only in Spanish.