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Mexican Legal Information

Scope
Getting Started
Websites
Westlaw Databases
LexisNexis Sources
Law Library Resources
Law Schools
Secretaries
State Governments

The purpose of this guide is to provide an overview of the legal information sources available for doing Mexican legal research. Coverage is not exhaustive, although an attempt was made to include the most relevant materials. Citations to print and online sources are included.

The call numbers on this page link to library catalog records, which provide information about location, availability, and currency of each item in the Ross-Blakley Law Library.

Westlaw and LexisNexis links will take you to the specified database if you have a password. These links work better if you are already logged in. The College of Law provides Westlaw and LexisNexis passwords to its law faculty, staff, and students. Links to Westlaw and LexisNexis databases will open in a new tab or window.

Getting Started

Web

Globalex — Electronic Guide to Mexican Law: By Francisco A. Avalos and Elisa Donnadieu. Published November 2005 by the Hauser Global Law School Program, New York University School of Law and updated by Francisco A. Avalos in September 2012.
Mexico and Its Legal System: This 2008 guide by Prof. Jorge A. Vargas provides a general description of the major features and current characteristics of the Mexican legal system, its principal components, and some of its distinct legal institutions, including—as an introduction to what is an eminently descriptive work—a brief historical background and basic information about Mexico as a country, its territory, people, culture, and economy. It also includes links to current Mexican legal websites.
Electronic Guide to the Best Mexican Law Websites: This 2004 guide by Prof. Jorge A. Vargas provides information on Mexican legal information in English and Spanish, on federal statutes and codes, the constitution, international treatises and conventions, the federal government, and the state governments.

Books

The Mexican Legal System: Francisco A. Avalos; KGF150.A95 2000
Mexican Law: A Treatise for Legal Practitioners and International Investors: Jorge A. Vargas; KGF327.M49 1998

Websites

National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade: InterAm Database: Database includes English translations of Mexican laws (primarily commercial, environmental, etc.), text of the Diario Oficial (in Spanish), articles of interest, and an English/Spanish list of legal terms and phrases and links to other websites. Part of this database is free and part subscription based. ASU does not currently subscribe to this database.

This site includes laws, legislation, jurisprudencia (case law), documents, books and magazines (all in Spanish).
México — directorio.gob.mx: Gateway to Mexican government (federal and state) sites. Spanish, but some of the agencies have English translation.
Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación
Official site of the Supreme Court. Includes jurisprudencia “Las Epocas” (Spanish).
Consejo de la Judicatura Federal Federal judiciary (Spanish).
Cámara de Diputados del Honorable Congreso de la Unión Official site for the Mexican Congress (Spanish).
Leyes Federales Vigentes Federal legislation in force (Spanish).
Senado de la República Official site for the Mexican Senate (Spanish).
Law Library of Congress: Guide to Law Online: Mexico Provides links to many useful sites. Most in Spanish, but some English.
LANIC
Latin American Network Information Center. This resource from the University of Texas at Austin provides links to tons of Mexican sites. Most are not legal but include subjects like anthropology, archaeology, economy, finance, trade, energy, NAFTA, indigenous peoples, news, politics and government (Spanish).
BANCOMEXT
Mexican Bank for Foreign Trade. THE site for “doing business in Mexico.” (English interface to Spanish materials).: More links to Mexican legal materials including treaties. (English and Spanish)
U.S. State Department Bureau of Consular Affairs: Judicial Assistance
Includes U.S. Department of State Circular on Preparation of Letters Rogatory Inter-American Convention on Letters Rogatory and Additional Protocol (Inter-American Service Convention)
Organization of American States
This site also provides the full text of the Inter-American Conventions on Letters Rogatory and on Taking Evidence Abroad. See Subject Index of Treaties under heading Judicial Cooperation.
Justia México. This Spanish language portal provides access to Mexican federal and state laws, including the Constitution of the United Mexican states and legal information about the 32 Mexican states. Justia México also streams Mexican law blog posts and legal tweets, a list of Mexico's largest firms and a directory of its law schools.
The portal also has a companion Spanish-language Twitter feed: @justiamexico. U.S. State Department Bureau of Public Affairs Links to Background Notes/ Country Links including multiple agency publications on Mexico.

Westlaw Databases

The Westlaw links below will open a new window, taking you to the specified database if you have a password. These links work better if you are already logged in. For news about Mexico, see the Westlaw Database Directory under International/Worldwide Materials > North America > Individual Country Materials > Mexico > Business & News. For legislation and regulations, drill down to >Mexico>Legislation and Regulations. For law reviews, bar journals and legal periodicals, drill down to >Mexico>Law Reviews, Bar Journals and Legal Periodicals.

Laws

Mexico Environmental, Health & Safety Laws and Regulations: ENFLEX-MX: Contains contains all currently available environmental, health and safety regulations available in the ENFLEX database for Mexico. In Spanish.

North American Free Trade

North American Free Trade Agreement - Binational Panel: NAFTA-BIP: Full text of decisions issued by the North American Free Trade Agreement Binational Panel, formerly the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement Binational Panel. The panel reviews antidumping and countervailing duty determinations of the International Trade Administration and the International Trade Commission. Coverage begins with 1989.
North American Free Trade Agreement: NAFTA: The full text of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and associated summaries, news releases, and text describing NAFTA. Coverage begins with August 1992 and includes the Supplemental Agreements.

Secondary Sources

United States-Mexico Law Journal: USMEXLJ: Published by the University of New Mexico School of Law in conjunction with an annual conference sponsored by the United States-Mexico Law Institute. Full coverage begins with 1993 (vol. 1).
U.S.-Mexico Legal Review: USMEXLR: Published by the American Bar Association. Full coverage begins with 2007 (vol. 1).

LexisNexis Sources

The LexisNexis links below will open a new window, taking you to the specified source if you have a password. These links work better if you are already logged in. In addition to these sources, there are a number of news sources for Mexico. The Searchable Directory of Online Sources provides more detailed information about sources.

Constitution

Constitucion Mexicana - Mexican Constitution: MXCNST: From 1917 through current; Constitution of 1917. Updated regularly as received from the government

Federal Laws

Leyes Federales - Federal laws: MXFED: From 1900's through current.; This file contains the Mexican Federal Laws. The term “laws” encompasses rules, regulations, decrees, manuals, norms and accords that form the bulk of the Mexican legislation. Updated regularly as received from the government.
Leyes del Estado de Mexico - State of Mexico Laws: MEXICO: From 1900's through current.; This file contains the laws of the State of Mexico. The term laws encompasses rules, regulations, decrees, manuals, norms and accords which form the bulk of the legislation for the State of Mexico. Also contains selected laws of Jalisco and Nuevo Leon states. Updated regularly as received from the government.

Areas of Law

Coverage: from 1900's to present (updated monthly/irregular); full-text; contains laws at Federal and State levels.

Leyes de Industria e Higiene de Mexico: MXINDU: Mexican Industrial and Hygiene Laws
Ley Internacional de Mexico: MXINTL: Mexican International Law
Leyes Ambientales de Mexico: MXAMB: Mexico Environmental Laws
Leyes Comerciales de Mexico: MXCOM: Mexican Commercial Laws
Leyes Electorales de Mexico: MXELEC: Mexican Electoral Laws
Leyes Fiscales o de Impuestos de Mexico: MXFISC: Mexican Tax Laws
Leyes Laborales de Mexico: MXLABR: Mexican Labor Laws
Ley de Notarios Publicos de Mexico: MXNP: Mexican Public Notary Law
Leyes de Salud de Mexico: MXSALU: Mexican Health Laws
Codigo Civil de Mexico: MXCIVI: Mexican Civil Code
Codigo Penal de Mexico: MXPENA: Mexican Penal Code

Jurisprudencia (Caselaw)

Jurisprudencia de la Corte Suprema de Mexico - Mexican Caselaw: MXJUR: From 1900's through current. Updated as received from the court.
Jurisprudencia - Tribunal Fiscal de la Federacion: MXJTF: From July 1, 1979 through October 1, 1996.; Contains jurisprudence, thesis, criteria and precedents issued by the Mexican Tax Courts, in Spanish.

Mexico City

Leyes del Distrito Federal de Mexico - Mexican Federal District Laws: MXDIST: From 1900's through current. Updated monthly.; Laws of the Federal District of Mexico (Mexico City). The term “laws” encompasses rules, regulations, decrees, manuals, norms and accords that form the bulk of the Federal District legislation.

Administrative Agencies (CIRCULARES)

Diario Oficial de la Federacion en Mexico: MXDIAR: From October 03, 2005 through current; The Diario Oficial is published daily and is updated online within 48 hours of publication.; The Diario Oficial de la Federacion is Mexico's equivalent of the Canada Gazette and the U.S. Federal Register. All new federal legislation as well as legislation that applies to the Federal District and territories must be published in the 'Diario oficial', also known as the 'Diario' or abbreviated as 'D.O.' The Diario also contains important announcements, notices, edicts, decrees, resolutions, tenders, proposed rules and regulations, and draft and final standards issued by the Mexican government and its agencies. In Spanish.

North American Free Trade

NAFTA Panel Review Decisions: NAFDEC: North American Free Trade Agreement Panel Review Decisions, pursuant to Chapter 19 of NAFTA. From April 1995 through current.
North American Free Trade Agreement: NAFTA: Full text of the final draft of the North American Free Trade Agreement between United States, Canada and Mexico dated September 13, 1993. Also included are the Supplemental Agreements.

Law Library Resources

Articles

Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals
This index provides access to journal articles written about legal topics around the world. Articles on Mexico are in Spanish and English. Because we may not own all the journals cited in this index, please allow time for us to borrow them through interlibrary loan.

Books

Library of Congress Subject Headings	Call Numbers
Law - Mexico	KGF 324-327
Law Reports Digests etc Mexico	KGF 70.A3
Civil law - Mexico (in general or specify state)	General: KGF 404-409
Civil procedure - Mexico (in general or specify state)	KFG 2579
having to do with Distrito Federal	KFG 7611-7691
Commercial law Mexico	KFG 1054.3-1059.5 and some business material KGF 333
Criminal law - Mexico (in general or specify state)	KFG 5414-5419
Criminal procedure - Mexico (in general or specify state)	KFG 5814-5819

Other Law Libraries

The following law libraries also have good collections on Mexican and Latin American law.