The Mexican Legal System

7/30/2019 The Mexican Legal System

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READING

The MexicanLegal System

CONTENT

1.The Mexican legal system

2. Federal Laws

3. Sources of Law

4.Government Agencies

5.Civil Law Tradition

2013 Mario Gonzlez-Hernndez

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Reading: The Mexican Legal

System

The constitution of 1917, proclaimed on

February 5, 1917, is considered by many to be

one of the most radical and comprehensiveconstitutions in modern political history.

Although its social content gave it the title of

the first modern socialist constitution--it

preceded the constitution of the former

Soviet Union--the Mexican documentreplicates many liberal principles and

concepts of the constitution of the United

States. The l iberal concepts include

federalism, separation of powers, and a bill

of rights. In addition to reaffirming the liberal

pr inc ip les of the n ineteenth-century

documents, the 1917 constitution adds a

strong nationalist proclamation, asserting

Mexico's control over its natural resources. It

also recognizes social and labor rights,

separation of church and state, and universal

male suffrage. Reflecting the varied social

backgrounds and political philosophies of its

framers, the constitution of 1917 includesvarious contradictory provisions, endorsing

within the same text socialism, capitalism,

l i b e r a l d e m o c r a c y , a u t h o r i t a r i a n

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The Mexican Legal System

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corporatism, and a host of unimplemented

provisions for specific social reforms.

Formally, the constitution prescribes a federal

republic consisting of thirty-one states and a

federal district. The federal government is

divided into executive, legislative, and

judicialbranches, but these branches do not

have comparable powers. Only the president

may promulgate a law, by signing it and

ordering its publication. The executive can

vetobillspassed by the legislature, either in

whole or by item, and although a veto may be

overridden, there is no constitutional way in

which the president may be forced to sign a

bill into law. In addition, executive-sponsored

bil ls submitted to the Congress take

precedence over other business, and the

constitution gives the president broad

authority to issue administrative basic rules.

These rules have the same legal force as laws

and are the source of most statutoryregulations.

The constitution treats many matters of public

policy explicitly. For example, before being

amended in 1992, Article 27 placed stringent

restrictions on the ownership of property by

foreigners and the Roman Catholic Church

and declared national ownership of the

country's natural resources. Religious groups

were excluded from any kind of political

activity and were not allowed to participate in

public education, conduct services outside

churches, or wear clerical dress in public. In its

original form, Article 27 also granted the


Module 1- The Mexican Legal System- Lesson 1. Reading


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government broad powers to expropriate

private property in the public interest and to

redistribute land.

The constitution prescribes an activist state

that will ensure national autonomy and social

justice. Thus, in addition to a charter of

individual rights, the constitution provides for a

number of social rights for workers and

peasants and their organizations. In Article

123, the constitution provides what has been

described as "the most advanced labor code

in the world at its time." It guarantees the right

to organize, as well as an eight-hour workday,

and provides for the protection of women andminors in the workplace. It mandates that the

minimum wage "should be sufficient to satisfy

the normal necessities of life of the worker,"

and establishes the principle of equal pay for

equal work regardless of gender, race, or

ethnicity. In addition, Article 123 clarifies the

right to strike. Strikes are legal when their

purpose is to "establish equilibrium betweenthe diverse factors of production, harmonizing

the rights of labor with those of capital." The

article further establishes arbitration and

conciliation boards made up of equal numbers

of management, labor representatives, and

one government representative. Although

many of these provis ions were not

implemented until 1931, Article 123 mandates

the incorporation of organized labor into the

formal political process and serves as a basis

for labor's claim to a preeminent status in

national politics.

Source: http://countrystudies.us/mexico/81.htm


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Click here to open an English

version of the Mexican

Constitution.


Keep reading this slideshow,

you may read the Mexican

Constitution later.
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Federal Laws

Any legislative enactments by the Federal

Congress published as laws, acts and

regulations fall under the category of federal

statutes. Article 73 of the Federal Constitution

enumerates the ample powers of the Federal

Congress, including its exclusive authority to

enact federal legislation.

From the viewpoint of their legal importance,

federal statutes are divided into two

categories: a) Regulatory Acts and b) Ordinary

laws. Regulatory laws are those that develop,

expand and detail the language of certain

provisions of the Federal Constitution -such as

those addressing natural resources (oil,

hydrocarbons and natural gas, minerals,

waters and lakes), marine spaces, fishing,

"Amparo" protect ions, const i tut iona l

controversies, etc.- in order to establish the

legal bases for their effective implementation.

For example, the Regulatory Act of paragraphVI of Article 76 of the Constitution to Resolve

Political Questions within a Given State, the

Regulatory Act of Article 27 of the Constitution

on Oil Matters, etc.

Ordinary laws are the statutes enacted by theFederal Congress that do not derive or

emanate from a specific constitutional

provision but legislate on a specific subject

matter under the exclusive jurisdiction of the

Federal Congress, such as the Customs Act;Foreign Trade Act; Roads, Bridges and Auto-

transportation Act; Nationality Act; Ports Act,

etc.

Excerpt from publication by Jaime A. Vargas


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Some of the most important Federal Laws are:

Federal Civil Code

Federal Code of Civil Procedure

Penal Code

Federal Code of Penal Procedure

Code of Commerce

Federal Labor Law

Other Sources of Law

a. Doctrine

Legal doctrine is formed by the ideas,

interpretations, written opinions, and general

commentaries advanced by legal scholars

through their writings, law courses, or oral

presentations relative to any Mexican law

issues or questions. The general legal body of

these scholarly contributions do not carry the

force of law and, as such, are not legally

binding.


a.Custom

Rules, principles, or norms formed through a

gradual but uniform passage of time are

recognized as a custom or habitual practice in

a given place and time. Unlike international

law, where the formation of customary legal

rules and principles are considered to be

legally binding to States based on the notion

of Opinio juris sive necessitatis, at the

domestic level, the rules, principles, or norms

created through custom are not legally binding

per se.


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b. General Principles of Law

Ancient Roman and Medieval law principles

tend to be cited by legal specialists as general

principles of law. In Mexico, the general

principles of law -expressly cited by Article 14

of the Federal Constitution, have not been

expressly enunciated, neither by a statute nor

by a code. A Circuit Collegiate Court

sentenced, in 1997, that "the general

principles of law are not applicable when there

is an explicit legal text governing a specific

legal situation," and another one asserted that,

in labor law matters, said principles "are

applicable... only in those cases notcontemplated in the law, in the regulations, or

when the case cannot be resolved based on

custom or use."

Government Agencies

Some of the most important agencies, in

alphabetical order, are:

Bancomext, the Trade Commission of Mexico.

Central Bank of Mexico

Chamber of Representatives

CFE, Federal Electricity Commission.

CFT, Federal Telecommunications Commission.

IFE, Federal Electoral Institute.

IMP, Mexican Petroleum Institute.

IMSS, Social Security Institute.

IMT, Mexican Institute of Transport.

INEGI, Institute of Geography & Statistics.

INSP, National Institute of Public Health.

NAFIN, Industrial Development Bank.

National Film Commission

Office of Indigenous People

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PEMEX, Mexican Oil Agency.

PGR, Attorney General's Office.

Presidency .

SAGAR, Agriculture & Rural Development Ministry.

SCT, Transportation & Communications Ministry.

SECODEM, Administrative and Expenditure

Development Ministry.

SEDENA, Defense & Military Ministry.

SEDESOL, Social Development Ministry.

SEMARNAP, Environment, Natural Resources &

Fisheries Ministry.

SENER, Secretary of Energy.

Senate of Mexico

SEP, Public Education Ministry.

SEPOMEX, Postal Service of Mexico.

SG, Interior Ministry.

SHCP, Finance and Public Credit Ministry (Treasury).

SRE, Foreign Relations Ministry.

SSA, Health & Assistance Ministry.

STPS, Labor Ministry.

Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation

Civil Law Tradition

Mexico's legal system derives from the civil

law tradition. This occurred as a result of

Mexico's long association with Spain. It is

important to be aware of some of the most

important concepts of the civil law tradition in

order to formulate research strategies in

conducting research into Mexican law. The

civil law tradition is the oldest and most widely

used legal tradition in the world today.64 Its

foundations were developed in the Italianuniversities of the Renaissance when Roman

law was rediscovered. Modern-day civil law is

based on Roman Law (Corpus Juris Civilis),

canon Law (Roman Catholic Church), medieval

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common commercial law, secular natural law,

secular positive law, and to a lesser degree

custom law. 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 most important contributions of RomanLaw, canon law, and medieval commercial law

to the civil law tradition are found in the private

law area. Roman law influenced "the law of

persons, the family, inheritance, property, torts,

unjust enrichment, and contracts."65 The

influence of canon law is found mainly "in the

area of family law and succession (both parts

of the Roman Civil Law), criminal law and the

law of 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.

The above is an excerpt from the Introduction to The Mexican

Legal System, 2d ed. (2000), by Francisco A. Avalos

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Documents

The Mexican Legal System