Mexico Adopts A Class Action Procedure (July 29, 2010)

On July 29, 2010, an amendment to article 17 of the Mexican Constitution (on individual rights regarding access to justice – within the “Bill of Rights”) was published in Mexico’s Official Gazette of the Federation (Diario Oficial de la Federación – publication in the gazette is the final step in the federal legislative process), providing for class actions. Mexico’s federal Congress has a year to issue secondary legislation on how to regulate these collective actions.

Class actions will be of the exclusive jurisdiction of Mexico’s federal courts (those which also have concurrent and exclusive judicial review – through the “Amparo” Trial) and, hence, should be construed to federal matters and proceedings, including those pertaining commerce and financial services, consumers, and the environment. This is the paragraph that was added to the provision:

Art. 17.- (…)El Congreso de la Unión expedirá las leyes que regulen las acciones colectivas. Tales leyes determinarán las materias de aplicación, los procedimientos judiciales y los mecanismos de reparación del daño. Los jueces federales conocerán de forma exclusiva sobre estos procedimientos y mecanismos.

Article 17.-(…) Congress shall issue the laws that regulate collective actions. Said laws shall determine the fields of application, the judicial procedures, and the mechanisms for damage recovery. The federal judges shall have exclusive jurisdiction over these procedures and mechanisms.