Civil Law Systems and the Mexican Legal System

1
Civil Law Systems and the Mexican Legal System

• Lee Peoples
• Head of Reference Services
• Oklahoma City University Law Library

2
http//www.droitcivil.uottawa.ca/world-legal-syste
ms/eng-civil.html
3
Civil Law Jurisdictions

• Sources of Law Differ
• Code is important
• Doctrine is important
• No Stare Decisis
• Style of Civil Lawyers
• Public/Private Law Distinction
• Legal Research Differences

4
Trials France and US Compared
I. Papadopoulos v01
Papadopoulos v02
5
Civil vs. CommonThe Way Lawyers ThinkLegal
Education
M. Nabati v2 (Video) Description Q- Can you
tell us about the differences between the two
legal systems, US and France?
6
Finding the Law in France Is Everything in the
Code?
M. Nabati v3 (Video) Description Your quote
"find all the law in the code" Do you mean
everything is in the code and law articles?
7
Legal Research France
Cassandre Mariton, first year associate at
Cleary, Gottlieb Paris office.
C. Mariton v07
8
History of the Civil Law

• Roman Law
• Justinians Corpus Juris Civilis

9
History of the Civil Law

• Canon Law
• Justinians Roman Law is received
• Napoleonic Code 1804
• Other Codes Follow

Jean-Etienne-Marie Portalis
10
Characteristics of Napoleonic Code

• All Encompassing
• Rationally Codified
• Clear to Laymen
• Conservative yet Easily Changed
• System Shaper

11
Civil Law Education

• Universities (Civil) Bar (Common)
• Undergraduate (Civil) Graduate (US)
• Civil student given overall theory
• Lecture instead of Socratic method
• Graduates not prepared to immediately practice law

12
Legal Education France and US
Xavier Vamparys, mid-level associate at Shearman
Sterling Paris office.
Video 300K
13
Civil Law Profession

• Choice of Career Path
• Practitioners
• Civil Servants
• Judges
• Scholars

14
Hierarchy of Civil Law

• Primary Sources give rise to binding legal
  norms
• Secondary Sources Authorities may have weight
  when primary sources are absent, unclear or
  incomplete but are never the basis of law. In
  practice they are relied upon.

15
Primary Sources

• Constitution
• Code
• Laws
• Customs
• General Principles

16
Secondary Sources or Authorities

• Case Law
• Scholarly Writings

17
Case Law France and US Compared
R. Errera v4
18
Mexican Legal System
19
History of Mexican Legal System

• Pre-Columbian Legal System
• Spanish Occupation
• Independence
• 1917 Constitution

20
Structure of Mexican Government
http//www.law.utexas.edu/constitutions/text/1824i
ndex.html
21
Legislative Branch
Chamber of Deputies Diputados
Senate Senadores
22
President Vicente Fox Quesada
23
Federal Judicial System
24
Hierarchy of Legal Authority

• Article 133 of Mexican Constitution provides that
  the Constitution, federal law and treaties shall
  be the supreme law of the land.

25
Hierarchy of Legal Authority

• Constitution

26
Divided Into Titles, Chapters and Articles
27
Hierarchy of Legal Authority

• Constitution
• Federal Law - Codes (Códigos), Laws (Leyes),
  Decrees (Decretos), International Treaties and
  Agreements
• Federal Regulations - Regulations (Reglamentos),
  Decrees-Executive(Decretos), Accords (Acuerdos)

28
(Civil Law) Secondary Authority

• Doctrine
• Custom and Usage
• General Principles of Law
• Equity
• Case Law

29
Stare Decisis in Mexico

• Jurisprudencia
• Established by the Supreme Court, Federal
  Collegiate Courts and State Supreme Courts
• Requires 5 consecutive and consistent decisions
  on a point of law
• Binding on the court that established it and
  lower courts
• Tesis Sobresalientes
• Issued only by the Supreme Court at the Federal
  or State Level
• Resolves contradictory rulings by inferior courts
• Is binding on lower courts

30
Case from Lexis
31
BabelFish Translation
32
Human vs. Babelfish
33
Sources of Law - Constitution

• Albert Blaustein, Constitutions of the Countries
  of the World (Dobbs Ferry Oceana) OCU Call K
  3157.E3 (ref)
• In English at http//www.ilstu.edu/class/hist263/d
  ocs/1917const.html.
• See Library of Congress site for online Spanish
  versions.
• Available from the Lexis library (MXCNST) from
  1917 current.

34
Sources of Law - Codes

• Federal Civil Code of Mexico, translated by Julio
  Romanach Jr. (Baton Rouge Lawrence, 2003) OCU
  Call KGF 404.32
• (placed on course reserve for you). (Author is
  Cuban born LSU JD practitioner).
• Mexican Commercial Code, translated by Abraham
  Eckstein and Trujillo Zepeda (St. Paul West,
  1996) OCU Call KGF 1054.3.
• Mexican Tax, Customs and Foreign Investment Laws
  (Chicago CCH, 1994 - ) library dropped in 2000.
  OCU Call KGF 4861.A47.
• All Codes are available online in Spanish,
  www.cddhcu.gob.mx/leyinfo,
• Lexis has the Civil and Penal codes available in
  the MEXICO library.
• Consult the Westlaw database directory codes
  not available but listed in directory

35
Sources of Law Legislation Diario Oficial
36
Institutes for Legal Studies
37
English Translations for a Fee
38
Law Library of Congress Page
http//www.loc.gov/law/guide/mexico.html
39
Treaties and International Agreements
40
Lists Bilateral and Multilaterals
41
Finding Treaties

• Consult Vargas Legal Dictionary and Desk
  Reference for a list of US Mexican Treaties
• Consult sources discussed during international
  law lecture

42
Sources of Law - Doctrina

• Biblioteca Juridica Pourra is a series of well
  respected doctrina published by Editorial Porrua
  in Spanish only.
• Francisco Avalos, The Mexican Legal System, 2nd
  Ed. (Littleton Rothman, 2001) OCU Call KGF
  150.A95. Lists doctrina by subject. (Author is
  Professor and Law Librarian at University of
  Arizona College of Law).
• Rubens Medina, The Mexican Legal System, in
  Introduction to Foreign Legal Systems p79-94.
  Lists doctrina by subject. (Author is the Law
  Librarian of Congress).
• Szladits Bibliography on Foreign and Comparative
  Law, Daniel L. Wade, S. Blair Kauffman, and Tracy
  L. Thompson, eds. (New York Oceana, 2001). OCU
  Call K 38 (ref). Volume 3 lists doctrina under
  the Mexico heading and all titles are in
  English.
• Jorge Vargas, Mexican Legal Dictionary and Desk
  Reference (St. Paul West, 2003) OCU Call
  K52.S6. Lists doctrina in a bibliography.
  (Author is Professor at the University of San
  Diego School of Law).
• Doctrina can also be found by searching for
  periodical articles.

43
Sources of Law Jurisprudencia

• Semanrio Judicial de la Federacion
• Mayo Ediciones
• Institute for Legal Studies http//www.juridicas.u
  nam.mx/
• Lexis provides Suprema Corte cases from 1900s
  November 2003 (MXJUR) and Tribunal Fiscal de la
  Federacion cases from 1979-1996 (MXJTF)
• Jorge Vargas, Mexican Legal Dictionary and Desk
  Reference (St. Paul West, 2003) OCU Call
  K52.S6. Lists cases decided by U.S. Courts from
  1995-2002 involving Mexican Law.

44
Research Guides

• Francisco Avalos, The Mexican Legal System, 2nd
  Ed. (Littleton Rothman, 2001) OCU Call KGF
  150.A95.
• Medina Rubens, The Mexican Legal System, in
  Introduction to Foreign Legal Systems p79-94.
• Articles in the International Encyclopedia of
  Comparative Law and the Modern Legal Systems
  Cyclopdeia provide introductions to the Mexican
  Legal System.

45
(No Transcript)
46
(No Transcript)
47
Professor Vargas Mexlaw page
http//www.mexlaw.com/
48
Reference Sources

• Henry S Dahl, McGraw-Hill's Spanish and English
  Legal Dictionary Diccionario Jurídico
  Ingleés-Español (New York, London McGraw-Hill,
  2003) OCU Call K 52. (Author is international
  practitioner, SMU Law Professor and sworn legal
  translator).
• Julio Romanach, Jr., Dictionary of Legal Terms
  Spanish English (Baton Rouge, LA Lawrence
  Publishing Co., 1992) OCU Call K 52.S6.
• Jorge Vargas, Mexican Legal Dictionary and Desk
  Reference (St. Paul West, 2003) OCU Call
  K52.S6.
• Jorge Vargas, Mexican Law A Treatise for Legal
  Practitioners and International Investors (St.
  Paul West, 1998) OCU Call KGF 327.M49 (library
  dropped in 2000).

49
News and Business Info

• Doing Business in Mexico,
• http//www.lexmundi.com/publications/INTL_Guides/
  guide-mexico.PDF
• CIA World Factbook Mexico,
• http//www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos
  /mx.html
• WorldNewspapers.com Mexico,
• http//www.world-newspapers.com/mexico.html

50
Cultural Information
51
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
52
Mexico News and Business Info
53
US Embassy in Mexico