Mexican Law in California and Texas Courts and the (Lack of) Application of Foreign Law by Mexican Courts

Abstract

This article is divided into two parts: part one reports the results of a survey conducted in California and Texas to find cases where Mexican law was applied by the court. The number of cases found where Mexican law governed the case was insignificant and statistically negligible. The second part discusses the cases when, under the Mexican Federal Code of Civil Procedure, foreign law may be applied by Mexican courts in a given case. Although this federal code permits the application of foreign law (including U.S. law) under certain situations, a survey that reviewed cases decided by the courts of the six Mexican states bordering the United States, in addition to Mexico City, between 2006 and 2008, indicated that Mexican courts did not render any judgments based on foreign law during that period of time.