1 In general, West Group may be the only company that publishes Mexican legal materials on a regular basis. Occasionally, International Legal Materials (ILM), of the American Society of International Law (ASIL), publishes English translations of salient Mexican legislative enactments and international agreements entered into by Mexico, which are of special interest to the United States.Google Scholar

2 In Mexico, Editorial Porrúa is the oldest, most traditional and best-known publisher of Mexican legal materials in all disciplines throughout Mexico; Colección Andrade is well known for its volumes on Mexican legislation. Recently, Harla began to publish law school textbooks; Oxford University publishes academic legal works; and Ediciones Fiscales ISEF legal, fiscal, financial and accounting materials in practical and inexpensive pocket-book editions. (All of these publishers are in Mexico City).Google Scholar

3 For a detailed description of this term, see Jorge A. VARGAS. Mexican Law Dictionary. West Group, 2003.Google Scholar

4 For more detailed information on each of these Mexican governmental and academic sites, please see infra in the corresponding sections of this note.Google Scholar

5 Federal Act of Transparency and Access to Public Governmental Information (Ley Federal de Transparencia y Accesso a la Informatión Pública Gubernamental). Published in the D.O. of June 11, 2002; it entered into force on June 12, 2003. This Act is part of the process of State Reform (Reforma del Estado) and its objective is to contribute to democratize the country and to establish a closer relationship between the Federal government and the people based on official responsibility and transparent accountability. The text of this Act is available at www.presidencia.gob.mx/iztac-texto and [email protected] wysiwyg://SISI.42/ http://www.informacionpublica.gob.mx/portal.html Google Scholar

6 The Federal Public Administration Act (Ley de la Administratión Pública Federal) governs the administrative powers, duties and responsibilities of each entity forming a part of the administration (D.O. of December 29, 1996, as amended).Google Scholar

7 For a more detailed description of the content, scope and rich variety of Mexican law materials available at this excellent web site, please refer to the corresponding section on UNAM's Legal Research Institute infra this note.Google Scholar

8 See infra Part 6, and Appendix III.Google Scholar

9 According to Black's Dictionary, the simplest notion of stare decisis is “to abide by, or adhere to, decided cases.” As a doctrine, “when a court has once laid down a principle of law as applicable to a certain state of facts, it will adhere to that principle, and apply it to all future cases, where facts are substantially the same; regardless of whether the parties and property are the same.” Nome v. Moody, Tex. Civ. App., 146 S.W.2d 505, 509, 510. As a policy of courts, it is when courts have to “stand by precedent, and not to disturb settled point.” Neff v. George, 364 Ill. 306, 4 N.E.2d 388, 390,391.Google Scholar

10 John H. Merryman. The Civil Law Tradition (1985) at 56. (Emphasis added). For a most interesting comparison on the value and authority of precedents in the United States, the United Kingdom and France, see André Tunc and Suzanne Tunc. Le Droit des États-Unis d'Amérique: Sources et Techniques (1954), §§ 116–118.Google Scholar

11 In Mexico, Jurisprudencia (Jurisprudence) is a legal term of art. It is used to refer to the fifth and last uninterrupted, consecutive and uniform decision rendered by the Supreme Court of the Nation (or by a Circuit Collegiate Court) that confirms the tenor of the four preceding decisions and because of this said Jurisprudencia, the decision becomes obligatory to lower federal and ordinary courts (including those in all the States and in the Federal District), military tribunals, administrative and labor courts, and Mexican authorities, as mandated by Articles 192-197-B, of Mexico's Federal Amparo Act (Ley de Amparo, D.O. of January 10, 1936; last amendment by D.O. of May 17, 2001). See also Articles 177–183 of the Organic Act of the Judicial Power (Ley Orgánica del Poder Judicial, D.O. of May 26, 1995, as amended).Google Scholar

12 The Republic of Mexico, pursuant to Article 43 of the Federal Constitution, is composed of one Federal District (i.e, Mexico City, which is the capital of the country and the venue of the Federal Powers) and thirty-one States. See Appendix III.Google Scholar

13 See infra the Section 5 of this Note titled: “State Governments.”Google Scholar

14 William D. Signet, West Group, St. Paul, Minn., 1997–98.Google Scholar

15 Until 2000, when a separate Federal Civil Code was enacted, the original 1928 Civil Code served both as the “local” Civil Code for the Federal District on ordinary matters and, at the same time, as the Federal Civil Code on federal matters. Today, there are two codes: one Federal Civil Code, and another for the Federal District. However, save for minor changes, the text of the Civil Code for the Federal District is taken almost verbatim from the Federal Civil Code.Google Scholar

16 See Jorge A. Vargas. Contrasting Legal Differences, §§1.32 and 1.33. Mexican Law: A Treatise for Legal Practitioners and International Investors (Chap. 1) Vol. 1, West Group (1998) at 18–22.Google Scholar

17 For a recent article on this subject, see Jorge A. Vargas. Family Law in Mexico: A Detailed Look into Marriage and Divorce. 1 Southwestern Journal of Law and Trade in the Americas, Vol. IX, 2002–2003 at 5–88.Google Scholar

18 For a description of the principles that control personal injury cases, including the way of calculating the corresponding economic indemnification in this type of cases, see Jorge A. Vargas. Tort Law in Mexico. Mexican Law: A Treatise for Legal Practitioners and International Investors, (Chap. 21), Vol. 2, West Group (1998) at 209–239.Google Scholar

19 See Jorge A. Vargas. Conflict of Laws. Mexican Law: A Treatise for Legal Practitioners and International Investors (1998), Vol. 2, Chap. 2 at 241–273.Google Scholar

20 Article 27, paras. II and III, Federal Public Administration Act (D.O. of December 29, 1976, as amended).Google Scholar

21 Article 3, Federal Civil Code. A similar provision is to be found in the corresponding Civil Codes of the thirty-one States, which form the Republic of Mexico, to govern the publication and legal effects of the legislative enactments of the local State Congress.Google Scholar

22 The official names and administrative hierarchy of these eighteen Secretariats are listed in Appendix II.Google Scholar

23 See Jorge A. Vargas. Mexico's Legal Revolution: An Appraisal of its Recent Constitutional Changes, 1988–1995. 25:3 Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law (1996) at 497–559.Google Scholar

24 The Federal Electoral Tribunal (Tribunal Federal Electoral) was created by two amendments (in 1990 and 1993) to Article 41 of the Constitution. The Tribunal's jurisdiction, composition and functions are regulated by the Federal Code of Electoral Institutions and Procedures (Código Federal de Instituciones y Procedimientos Electorales, known as COFIPE, and published in the D.O. August 15, 1990 with numerous amendments).Google Scholar

25 The so-called “Meta-Constitutional Powers” are those powers granted to the President, although they are not explicitly enumerated in the Federal Constitution. In other words, these are powers, which have been gradually accruing in the Office of the President by custom, tradition, historical and political developments, etc. Over time, the combination of constitutional and “Meta-Constitutional” powers, has traditionally given the President of Mexico superlative power.Google Scholar

26 In greater detail, Article 1 of the Federal Organic Act of the Judicial Power adds three more judicial entities as forming a part of the Judicial Power of the Federation, namely: (1) the Council of the Federal Judiciary; (2) the federal jury of citizens; and (3) the courts of the states and the Federal District; prescribed by Art. 107, para. XII, of the Federal Constitution.Google Scholar

27 See Jorge A. Vargas. The Rebirth of the Supreme Court of Mexico. An Appraisal of President Zedillo's Judicial Reform of 1995. 11:2 American University Journal of International Law and Policy (1996) at 295–341.Google Scholar

28 See supra note 11 and the corresponding text.Google Scholar

29 For a detailed description of this term, see Jorge A. Vargas. Mexican Law Dictionary. West Group, (forthcoming, to appear in the Fall of 2003).Google Scholar

30 An Amparo suit involves not the traditional two, but four parties, and it utilizes highly technical legal terminology. The parties are: 1) the aggrieved party (Agraviado, not plaintiff); 2) the responsible authority (Autoridad responsable); 3) the third injured party (Tercero perjudicado); and 4) the Federal Prosecutor or District Attorney (Agente del Ministerio Público Federal).Google Scholar

31 For the list of these principles, see supra paragraph b) The Executive Power in this Note.Google Scholar

32 See Jorge A. Vargas. Conflict of Laws. Mexican Law: A Treatise for Legal Practitioners and International Investors (Chap. 22), West Group (1998) at 241–273.Google Scholar

33 For additional information on this Code, please see supra note 18 and the corresponding text in this Note.Google Scholar

34 See Jorge A. Vargas. Enforcement of Judgments. Mexican Law: A Treatise for Legal Practitioners and International Investors (Chap. 23), Vol. 2, West Group (1998) at 275–305.Google Scholar

35 See the synopsis of this electronic portal at the beginning of this Note, under the title: Mexican Law Information in Spanish. For information on the Office of the President of Mexico, see supra the section titled: b) The Executive Power.Google Scholar

36 See supra note 21 and the corresponding text.Google Scholar

37 Pursuant to Article 43, para. II, of the Federal Public Administration Act, the Office of Legal Counsel to the Federal Executive (Consejería Jurídica del Ejecutivo Federal) is empowered, inter alia, “to submit to the consideration of the President and, when appropriate, obtain his signature for all the legislative bills (Iniciativas de leyes y decretos) to be submitted to the Congress of the Union, or to one of its Chambers… and to give an opinion [to the President] regarding said bills.”Google Scholar

38 Article 43 of the Federal Constitution enumerates the thirty-one states, which constitute “an integral part of the Federation.” For the complete list of these states, please see Appendix IV.Google Scholar

39 The D.F. serves as the venue — like the District of Columbia in the United States — to the federal powers and, at the same time, operates as a local metropolitan entity with its own Executive, Legislative Assembly and judicial and administrative systems. In essence, the D.F. functions as a “State.” Should the federal powers move away from the Federal District (Mexico City), the area currently occupied by Mexico City is to become the “State of the Valley of Mexico” (Estado del Valle de México), as mandated by Article 44 of Mexico's Federal Constitution.Google Scholar