Mexican Law Review

Complete Journal

2024-07-02T04:23:03+00:00

Preliminary

2024-07-02T04:20:12+00:00

The Mexican State’s interpretation of indigenous self-determination in the age of democracy (1992-2022)

2024-05-22T14:58:37+00:00

This article charts how Mexican authorities have interpreted and implemented indigenous peoples’ constitutional right to self-determination since it was first adopted in a 1992 constitutional reform. “Self determination” can mean many things, and the constitution gives stakeholders ample discretion to define and negotiate the content of this right. Most state legislatures initially passed “indigenous culture laws” starting in the late 1990s. The state of Oaxaca also amended its electoral procedure code to allow municipalities with a majority of indigenous residents to elect the members of their local governments through community assemblies (instead of the “political party system”). In the last five years, courts have further expanded electoral protections for indigenous communities by mandating that federal and state electoral Institutes implement quotas reserved for indigenous candidates in legislative elections. The application of indigenous self-determination has thus gone from being handled by state legislatures to being the province of federal electoral courts. The prevailing interpretation of self-determination has shifted from self-determination as self-government to it being understood as special legislative representation.

Towards an evidence-based pretrial risk assessment in Mexican juvenile offenders: A systematic review of relevant instruments using COSMIN guidelines

2024-06-05T18:00:42+00:00

The Mexican Comprehensive Criminal Justice System for Adolescents (Sistema Integral de Justicia Penal para Adolescentes) is in urgent need of validated tools to help diminish the likelihood of pretrial failure, (that is, when juveniles interfere in one way or another with the course of the criminal process before the trial stage). To this end, this article aims to evaluate the measurement properties of relevant instruments to guide and support pretrial risk assessment in Mexican juvenile offenders. Firstly, a systematic review was conducted in PubMed, metasearch engines (DGB-UNAM and Google Scholar), and databases using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) guidelines. As it was found that no validated pretrial risks assessment instruments had been published earlier in Mexico, we present a proposal based on a preliminary selection of five instruments suitable for pretrial risks assessment taking both analysis and theory into account. Since this is the first systematic review in the field, results provide evidence for developing pretrial risk tools to aid decision-making in the juvenile offenders sector in Mexico.

Effective law enforcement and human security in Mexico

2024-06-03T06:32:02+00:00

Mexico is experiencing a level of violence and crime that threatens human rights and prevents the attainment of human security and human development. Effective law enforcement should not only be approached as a worthy ideal, or something only desirable or convenient, but as a human right, since it is focused on achieving the greatest protection of the most fundamental rights of the people: life, freedom, integrity, property, among others. This article develops this argument by examining legal doctrines on the subject and proposes the centrality of effective law enforcement to strengthen not only the rule of law, but individual security as well as other types of security. It thus highlights the importance of a better state handling of law enforcement in order to achieve peace, order, and prosperity in Mexico. Finally, this article also provides a description of the various means of challenge and appeal which are available in Mexico by which the human right to effective law enforcement may be obtained in order to achieve a minimum threshold of public security that could effectively guarantee human security and freedom.

The influence of feminist mobilization on legal consciousness and the practices of femicide prosecutors in Mexico at the subnational level

2024-06-03T06:24:19+00:00

Over the last two decades, some feminist organizations in Mexico have applied principles of transnational women’s rights through the use of concepts such as femicide (feminicidio) and also promoted both the pretrial preventive detention for these crimes, and the implementation of “gender-based violence alerts” by the Mexican federal government. The article aims to understand how these federal policies have influenced the legal consciousness and practices of prosecutors in the state of Nuevo León, Mexico, from 2009 to 2021. I argue that feminist discourses have been inspired by federal-level policies based on penal populism and, although they have encouraged prosecutors to defend the rights of femicide victims, they have also promoted violations of defendants’ and victims’ rights. A qualitative methodology based on documental analysis and interviews with prosecutors, defense attorneys, and human rights defenders has been applied. The article compares narratives and practices of femicide prosecutors during two historical periods and claims that feminist discourses have helped to raise consciousness of women’s rights for prosecutors but have also helped to justify some probable violations of human rights.

A review of the legal tax framework for digital platforms in Mexico

2024-06-11T06:53:30+00:00

In recent years, Mexico has made significant advances in its legislation related to digital platforms, especially regarding their tax obligations. In this regard, this text seeks to delve into the Mexican tax system in order to understand its direct relationship with e-commerce, as it not only currently represents 5% of GDP but also experienced an almost doubling in just one year. It will explore how various laws regulate the actions of different digital platforms and how they seek to prevent international companies from making profits without paying taxes. Specifically, the 2021 tax reform and its relationship, application, and implications with digital platforms will be analyzed in detail. The analysis is based on the premise that said reform is a success of the Legislative Power. However, the need to adapt laws as Mexican society continues to adopt technology and carry out transactions in the digital market is also discussed.

The characteristics of Russian and Mexican environmental taxation systems

2024-06-03T06:12:41+00:00

This note examines Russia’s current environmental taxation system by comparing it to that of Mexico. In recent years, the process of ‘greening’ Russia’s taxation system has made good progress but it still has a long way to go before it achieves the level of developed countries, the latter operating a whole set of dedicated taxes designed to stimulate sustainable economic growth and generate wealth with zero environmental impact. Russia’s efforts towards a modernized environmental taxation have unfolded by optimizing the existing taxes, fees and non-tax payments, establishing the pollution quotas, and regulating greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, we explore the feasibility of applying Mexican environmental taxation practices in Russia.