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1 Civil Law Systems and the Mexican Legal System Lee Peoples Oklahoma City University Law Library

2 Civil Law Jurisdictions Sources of Law Differ Code is important Preparatory Work is important No Stare Decisis Style of Civil il Lawyers

3 Common Law Civil Law Develops from Case to Law is Codification Case Decisions ecso s Aren t Made adeu Until Decisions Made in Advance They Have to Be Reasons from Principles to Reasons from Instances to Principles Instances Faith in Precedents Skeptical of Generalizations Faith in Logical Syllogisms Delight in the Systematic

4 Civil Law Jurisdictions Sources of Law Differ Code is important Interpretation of code is important No Stare Decisis Style of Civil il Lawyers Public/Private Law Distinction Legal Research Differences

5 How Civil Law Lawyers Research Start with abstract principles Locate relevant code section Interpret relevant code section Preparatory Work White or Green Paper Article by Article Commentary Statement by Ombudsman or Author Laws, Rules, Administrative Rules Cases Treatises and Articles

6 History of the Civil Law Roman Law Justinian s Corpus Juris Civilis

7 History of the Civil Law Canon Law Justinian s Roman Law is received Napoleonic Code 1804 Other Codes Follow Jean-Etienne-Marie Portalis

8 Characteristics of Napoleonic Code All Encompassing Rationally Codified Clear to Laymen

9 Civil Law Education Universities (Civil) Bar (Common) Undergraduate (Civil) Graduate (US) Civil il student t given overall theory via lecture instead of Socratic method Graduates not prepared to immediately practice law

10 Civil Law Profession Choice of Career Path Practitioners Civil il Servants Judges Scholars

11 Hierarchy of Civil Law Hard Law (Primary Sources) give rise to binding legal norms Soft Law (Secondary Sources)

12 Hard Law Primary Sources Constitution Code

13 Hard Law Primary Sources Constitution Code Laws Cases *

14 Civil Law Cases

15 Hard Law Primary Sources Constitution Code Laws Cases * Customs General Principles

16 Soft Law Preparatory Work Green & White Papers Line by line analysis and commentary Statements by Ombudsman or Drafter Doctrine (a.k.a. Scholarly Writings)

17 Mexican Legal System

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20 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 l 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 for the American Lawyer (St. Paul: West, 2009) OCU Call # KGF 327.V37 (2009).

21 History of Mexican Legal System Pre-Columbian Legal System Spanish Occupation Independence d 1917 Constitution

22 Structure of Mexican Government

23 Legislative Branch Chamber of Deputies Diputados Senate Senadores

24 President Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa

25 Federal Judicial System

26 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.

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 Hierarchy of Legal Authority * = binding in certain situations i Doctrine * 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 Sources of Law - Constitution Albert Blaustein, Constitutions tut o s of the Countries of the World (Dobbs Ferry: Oceana) OCU Call # K 3157.E3 (ref) & electronically. Univ. of Richmond's Constitution Finder Available from the Lexis library (MXCNST) from 1917 current.

31 Sources of Law - Codes Federal Civil Code of Mexico,, translated by Julio Romanach Jr. (Baton Rouge: Lawrence, 2005) OCU Call # KGF (Author is Cuban born LSU JD practitioner). Mexican Commercial Code,, translated by Abraham Eckstein and Trujillo Zepeda (St. Paul: West, 1996) OCU Call # KGF Mexican Tax, Customs and Foreign Investment Laws (Chicago: CCH, ) library dropped in OCU Call # KGF 4861.A47. All Codes are available online in Spanish, Lexis has the Civil and Penal codes available in the MEXICO library. Consult the Westlaw database directory codes not available but listed in directory

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33 Sources of Law Legislation Diario i Oficial i Also available on LN in Spanish

34 English Translations for a Fee

35 Institutes for Legal Studies

36 Law Library of Congress Page

37 Treaties and International Agreements

38 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 ss 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 p Lists doctrina by subject. (Author is the Law Librarian of Congress). 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).

39 Sources of Law Jurisprudencia Semanrio Judicial de la Federacion Mayo Ediciones Institute t for Legal Studies Lexis provides Suprema Corte cases from 1900 s November 2003 (MXJUR) and Tribunal Fiscal de la Federacion cases from (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 involving Mexican Law.

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