Mexican Legal System Research Articles

La reforma constitucional Mexicana de 2011 en materia de derechos humanos. Una lectura desde el derecho internacional

This essay analizes the 2011 Mexican constitutional reform on human rights from the international law perspective. At first instance, it remembers the legislative saga, then it studies the vision that the Mexican legal system has of itself and regarding international law; it reviews the reform from the principles of international law perspective and finally it concludes.

Mexican Punitive Damages in Commercial Arbitration: Forecasting the Future

In February 2014, the Supreme Court of Mexico, citing US scholarship and case law, held that punitive damages had to be awarded to a tort plaintiff as part of the indemnity afforded by Mexican law under the heading of moral damages (daños morales). Before this landmark decision, nothing similar to punitive damages existed in the Mexican legal system. In the context of arbitral proceedings, this new interpretation of moral damages gives rise to two questions at the core of the international discussion on punitive damages and arbitration. The first has regard to the power of arbitral tribunals with seat in Mexico to award punitive relief when the applicable substantive law, including Mexican law, contemplates it. The second is the possibility of enforcing foreign-based law punitive damages awards in Mexico. Despite the early stage and still incipient discussion regarding the true nature and application of punitive damages in Mexico, the author forecasts that, while they may be an available relief in arbitration proceedings in Mexico, this decision is a rare exception and their quantum limited. In addition, Anglo-American law based punitive damages awards may still find a public policy obstacle for their enforcement or grounds for their nullity in Mexico.

El derecho al mínimo vital frente a la inactividad administrativa en la protección de los derechos humanos

En el sistema jurídico mexicano, el derecho al mínimo vital impone, en el marco de las obligaciones de actuación encomendadas a las Administraciones públicas, los deberes de promoción, fomento, protección y garantía de los derechos humanos. De este modo, el derecho al mínimo vital proporciona un parámetro de exigibilidad frente a la omisión de deberes de actuación administrativa. La presente investigación busca analizar la inacción de las Administraciones frente a obligaciones impuestas en materia de salud, con el fin de distinguir entre los instrumentos jurídicos de actuación del derecho administrativo (actividad formal) y la actuación que transforma el entorno y la realidad de los administrados (actividad material). Se abordan luego criterios jurisprudenciales que sirven para identificar la inacción administrativa material y hacer exigibles derechos e intereses de grupos vulnerables. Con la ayuda de un método dogmático formalista se examina la legislación en materia de salud, los criterios jurisprudenciales recientes para la protección de los derechos fundamentales y la doctrina más representativa en materia de inactividad administrativa.

LA LÍNEA DEL HORIZONTE TRANSICIONAL Y LOS PROBLEMAS DE PROCESAR CRÍMENES DE LESA HUMANIDAD EN MÉXICO: UN ANÁLISIS DE SUS DOCUMENTOS CLAVE

The situation in Mexico differs substantially from other forms of violence in the Latin American region. For this reason, the answer from the Criminal Law must accommodate to that Mexican novelty. This paper analyses how the perspective of transitional justice has been tackled by different sectors, both from the official side and the citizenry one, to deal with serious violations of human rights in the Mexican past and present, and the problems encountered by that transitional justice approach, especially the difficulty of applying International Criminal Law. It concludes by assuming the figure of crimes against humanity to face some of the gravest branches of human rights in Mexico, despite the procedural and material problems with which it would be applied, even nowadays, in the Mexican legal system.

Energy and human rights: a perspective from Mexico

In Mexico, as well as in many other countries, there are constitutional foundations for the protection and promotion of human rights. Accordingly, this paper aims to outline the conditions and effects of the recognition of energy access as a human right on the Mexican legal system, in which it has full application.

143 - The status of nasciturus in the Mexican legal system and ITS relationship with embryonic stem cells

The “unborn child” is conceived unborn (“nondum natus”), is the human being at the time of his life running from the moment of conception to the moment of birth, and develops in different stages of embryo and fetus. For embryo must understand the human being from fertilization until the third month of pregnancy; fetus is understood by humans since the third month of pregnancy until delivery. Within the embryonic period we speak of different stages, any of which we are in presence of a human being in the early stages of their existence, in which there are no leaps, as it is always the same biological body, although their morphology not yet match the man adult.

A new era in Mexico: Human Rights

We are in a new constitutional paradigm in Mexico, the origin is the recent first article of our constitution that incorporates Human Rights, behind was the model of individual guarantees that from February 5, 1917 and until before June 10, 2011 prevailed in the Mexican legal system.

Análisis crítico del juicio político. Especial referencia al Estado de Guanajuato

La reciente reforma constitucional en materia del Sistema Nacional Anticorrupción, implicará un redimensionamiento y re conformación de los órganos encargados del combate a la corrupción, donde se involucra a la sociedad, además de crearse entes de relevancia constitucional; no obstante, la figura del Juicio Político permaneció intocada, generando un desfase dada la obsolescencia de esta institución y su nula eicacia. En tal sentido, el presente artículo tiene por objeto hacer un análisis crítico de la igura del Juicio Político, a partir de los antecedentes del Impeachment Británico, así como en los Estados Unidos de América, para culminar con la crítica de la igura ante citada igura en el ordenamiento jurídico mexicano, con especial referencia al estado de Guanajuato.

Desjudicializar vs. Judicializar la familia en México, su impacto en el Derecho

En el sistema jurídico mexicano, la familia es considerada como una institución y por ser una cuestión de orden público e interés social, al Estado y al Derecho, les interesa regularla; a fin de que ante los órganos jurisdiccionales se resuelvan las controversias que involucran a los miembros que la integran, el concepto de familia ha ido evolucionando, pues a medida que la sociedad cambia, este grupo social se ha venido conformando de una distinta manera que va más allá de una mera relación biológica entre personas que tienen un mismo origen, porque provienen unas de otras, extendiéndose.

Reparations for Human Rights Violations and State Liability in Mexico

Reparations are a state’s duty in all its spheres of action and their origins are not unique to the international field. They operate also in the national context and involve the provision of an effective legal remedy for illegalities or irregularities committed by the State. As such, Mexican law requires the formulation of such analysis by answering the following questions: What happens if the State fails to fulfill its obligations towards its citizens? What, how, and when can victims of Mexican human rights violations obtain reparations? We answer these questions by exploring the Mexican legal system’s traditional pathways for reparations and analyzing the extent of the State’s liability under Article 113 of the Mexican Constitution. We refer to five legal instruments: the Constitution of the United Mexican States, the Amparo Act, the State Liability Act, the General Law on Victims, and the American Convention on Human Rights. Finally, we also consider published opinions issued by the Supreme Court of Justice, as this has been the primary mechanism for determining the meaning of the substantive right to reparations, as well as the extent, limits, and guarantees for it.

El derecho internacional privado y su normatividad en su incorporación en el sistema jurídico mexicano

This article aims to show the state of the art regarding the incorporation of the norms product of Private International Law and it tries to answer some questions.The objec- tive is to make it as clear as possible that the international legal norm today is incorporated into national legal systems in several ways.The Nation State as a category of analysis is legiti- mate but it is also important to remember the “universal generalization of rules and values” and the definition of the individual entities. This evolution is now going synchronized to the movements of individuals and families and the large transformations of the economy. The international legal norm is integrated into the Mexican legal system in different ways that we attempt to explain in this paper and its incorporation today can be measured by its impact on the modernization of this legal system.

Control constitucional de las leyes electorales

El sistema jurídico mexicano cuenta con un modelo mixto de control de constitucionalidad de leyes. Por un lado, se efectúa un control concreto en el que la norma que se juzga inconstitucional es inaplicada sólo para el caso específico que se resuelve (efectos inter partes), pero continúa vigente. En otros casos se realiza un control abstracto, con la consecuente invalidez de una norma si resultara ser contraria a la Constitución, lo cual produce efectos generales (erga omnes).Esto lo vemos reflejado en el actual control constitucional de normas electorales de nuestro país, cuyas limitantes son: 1) el amparo contra leyes previsto en los artículos 103 y 107 constitucionales es improcedente en contra de normas electorales; 2) los ciudadanos comunes no están legitimados activamente para ejercitar la acción de inconstitucionalidad que conforme al artículo 105 constitucional, es la única vía para plantear la no conformidad de leyes electorales a la Constitución, y 3) el tipo de control que realiza el Tribunal Electoral del Poder Judicial de la Federación, en adelante TEPJF, es de carácter concreto, por lo que los efectos de sus sentencias se limitan a las partes que contienden en un juicio específico.Esto genera un problema de seguridad jurídica en el ciudadano ante una norma electoral que lesione sus derechos fundamentales. Es necesario que se establezca en el artículo 99 constitucional la posibilidad de que el TEPJF efectúe un control abstracto, de modo que sus sentencias produzcan efectos generales.

¿DERECHOS HUMANOS O JURISPRUDENCIA INFALIBLE?

The new model of constitutional adjudication and the advent of the so called “constitutionalist paradigm” demand quite a few adjustments in the Mexican legal system, both in the legislative field as in the judicial one. The “pro personae” principle must compel and inspire these changes. In this paper we will demonstrate how the Supreme Court of Justice has not been consistent at the time of expounding this important principle through judicial review. Unless we think that the Supreme Court is infallible, we do not find a reason that justifies this position. We cannot admit, either, that the Supreme Court is impermeable regarding the “pro personae” principle. In this paper, we reflect upon these issues by analyzing the recent decision in the C.T. 299/2013 (conflict in jurisdictional criteria).

El juicio de residencia español, antecedente del juicio de responsabilidad y no del juicio de amparo mexicano

En el sistema jurídico mexicano, específicamente en lo referente a las responsabilidades de los servidores públicos, la influencia del derecho español es claro; siendo su antecedente el juicio de residencia, que tenía como función principal sancionar a los funcionarios que ocupaban un cargo público en las tierras conquistadas y que se desempeñaban en contravención a las disposiciones emitidas por la corona española. El objetivo principal era la sanción a los servidores por el mal desempeño de las funciones encomendadas. En el juicio de responsabilidad de los servidores públicos en México, la finalidad es la misma que el de residencia española, incluso con sanciones similares a las de este último, las cuales son desde la amonestación hasta la inhabilitación para ocupar un cargo público. Mucho se ha comentado con relación a que el juicio de residencia español, es el antecedente del juicio de amparo mexicano, sin embargo no lo considero así, pues el juicio de amparo tiene como objetivo principal el resarcir a los individuos en la violación de sus derechos humanos cuando alguna autoridad los ha vulnerado, es decir el juicio de amparo gira en la protección del individuo, mientras que el juicio de residencia gira en torno a la evaluación del desempeño del funcionario, pues está dirigido a sancionarlo por su mal desempeño; de ahí que considero no exista relación directa entre ambos procedimientos.In the Mexican legal system, specifically regarding the responsabilities of government employees, the influence of the Spanish law is clear, being it´s precedent the residence trial, which main function was to punish officers who held public office in conquered lands and violated dispositions issued by the Spanish crown. The main objective was to punish public officers for their poor fulfillment of the assigned functions. The Mexican liability of public officers trial has the same purpose as the Spanish residence trial, it even has similar sanctions which can go from admonitions to becoming ineligible for public office. Much has been said regarding the fact that the Mexican amparo trial (protection of civil liberties) finds its precedents on the Spanish residence trial, however I must disagree, mainly because the amparo´s trial main objective is to compensate the individuals for suffering violations to their human rights by any authority, in other words the amparo trial is mainly about the individual´s protection, while the residence trial focuses on the performance evaluation of the officers, for it aims to sanction the officers for their performance; therefore I do not consider there is a direct relation between both procedures.

LOS LÍMITES DE LA REFORMA CONSTITUCIONAL EN MATERIA DE DERECHOS HUMANOS EN MÉXICO: POR UN PODER POLÍTICO DESCONCENTRADO

Existen lecturas optimistas de la reforma constitucional en materia de derechos humanos que observan un cambio paradigmático en el orden jurídico mexicano. Si bien la reforma es en sí misma un avance, en la medida en que no está acompañada de modificaciones sustantivas en la parte orgánica de la Constitución que permitan generar un proceso de desconcentración del poder político, la reforma corre el riesgo de tener una potencialidad diluida.

Enforcement of fundamental rights by lower courts: Towards a coherent system of constitutional review in Mexico

This article reviews the evolution of constitutional judicial review in Mexico. It claims that while the Mexican legal system has fluctuated between two fairly consolidated constitutional review models —the American and the continental European— it has so far disregarded at least one major factor strongly embedded within the rules of both. Stated differently, most constitutional scrutiny regarding fundamental rights —the essential prerogatives and freedoms to which every person as such is entitled under the constitution— should be fulfilled by lower courts empowered for such purpose within ordinary adjudication procedures. For this reason, constitutional jurisdiction should play only a guiding role —even when solving a specific controversy on its merits— in the enforcement of these rights. While the rules of these two models leave the vast majority of legal controversies regarding fundamental rights outside constitutional jurisdiction, they guarantee that the interpretation of the few leading cases that are formally reviewed impact the rest of the legal system. Instead, the Mexican rules of constitutional scrutiny have fostered excessive dependence on specialized constitutional courts. Simultaneously, they have weakened — through artificial differentiations regarding the review of statutes— the guiding role of constitutional interpretation in the legal realm. This results in a complex system that is neither effective in making constitutional rules guide conduct nor in wholly enforcing fundamental rights.

Los nuevos paradigmas del derecho de la seguridad social en México

Social security is going through an existential crisis that threatens its future viability as a public service in the background instead the fact that it is a human right and social due to the state. The “Basic Social Protection Floor”, launched by the United Nations in 2009 jointly with the International Labour Organization and World Health Organization, supported by numerous international organizations, is a social insurance program, say welfare, which seeks to extend coverage of that public service even at the cost of reducing it to basic minimum health and universal pensions. This, combining the profound paradigm shifts in human rights within the Mexican legal system, requires the academy to conduct a comprehensive review of the subject point to understand and design deep structural reforms to social insurance in Mexico.

La protección de los derechos fundamentales frente a particulares: el amparo en México y la acción de tutela en Colombia

El presente trabajo compara el amparo en México y la acción de tutela en Colombia a partir de la procedencia de estas acciones judiciales para proteger los derechos fundamentales en las relaciones que surgen entre particulares. Para tal fin, el artículo expone las principales características y mecanismos procedimentales de cada acción. De igual forma, presenta las situaciones en las cuales es posible solicitar judicialmente la protección de los derechos fundamentales en relaciones jurídico-privadas y realiza una propuesta de incorporación al sistema jurídico mexicano. Finalmente, realiza algunas observaciones acerca de la procedencia y alcance de las acciones estudiadas.

Actos administrativos internacionales del Estado Mexicano. Consideraciones de carácter jurídico, académico, social y político

<p>El artículo intenta demostrar que de conformidad con el proceso ejecutivo-legislativo, establecido en los artículos 15; 76, fracción I; 89, fracción X; y 133 de la Constitución federal, los actos administrativos internacionales forman parte de nuestro régimen jurídico interior.</p> <p>Es lógico que proceden de una Conferencia, Convención o Reunión internacional, elaborados por representantes plenipotenciarios —o no— de los países que la conforman; y por lo tanto, reúnen menos requisitos legales que los que entraña una Constitución federal o una ley en la que, en el derecho mexicano del proceso ejecutivo-legislativo de formación de leyes, intervienen los poderes legislativo, ejecutivo y judicial.</p> <p>La definición de <em>Tratado </em>debe revisarse en relación a la Convención de Viena sobre el Derecho de los Tratados entre Estados y Organizaciones Internacionales o entre Organizaciones Internacionales. Asimismo, se argumenta que estos actos administrativos por proceso de construcción son de menor jerarquía que la Constitución federal y las Leyes Generales, Federales, Orgánicas, Reglamentarias y Ordinarias. Los diputados federales deben intervenir en el proceso de aprobación de aquellos.</p>

Corporate Veil Piercing: A Proposal for Mexico

This article uses an Economic Analysis of Law approach to propose the adoption of the doctrine of corporate veil piercing in Mexico. This study not only recognizes the economic benefits of limited liability for society, but also identifies the incentives it creates for shareholders to abuse of the corporate form by using the corporation to unduly appropriate a corporation’s assets at the expense of the corporation’s creditors. On this basis, the article describes the American equity doctrine of veil piercing that courts apply in order to reach shareholders’ assets in cases of fraud or misconduct against the corporation’s creditors. Finally, the paper describes the current legal framework in Mexico and proposes the adoption of corporate veil piercing in the Mexican legal system.