MEXICO Law and Practice Contributed by: Fernando del Castillo Elorza, Sajid Arroyo, Andrea Hernández and Alexis Romero, Del Castillo & Castro Abogados
meeting’s conclusion, whereas an action for nullity of a shareholders’ meeting is subject to a ten-year limi- tation period. 2.2 Court Structure The structure of the Mexican judiciary is as follows: • the Supreme Court, the highest court, which deter- mines the constitutionality of statutes and interna- tional treaties; • the federal courts, which have jurisdiction over: (a) civil and commercial matters under federal law; (b) commercial insolvency proceedings; and (c) amparo proceedings; and • the state courts, which hear civil and commercial matters under concurrent jurisdiction. 2.3 Pre-Action Conduct Mexican procedural law does not require any prelimi- nary steps to be taken before filing a lawsuit. However, various procedural prerequisites must be satisfied for a claim to be admissible. For example, if the claimant is a company, it must file evidence of its legal repre- sentation. 2.4 Stages of Court Proceedings A proceeding begins with the preliminary stage, which comprises filing the statement of claim, service on the defendant, and the defendant’s response. The second stage is the evidentiary phase, during which the parties adduce their evidence, and which concludes with an evidentiary hearing. This is gener- ally the longest stage of the proceedings. The third stage comprises closing arguments and judgment, following which the first-instance judgment is delivered. That judgment is subject to appeal and thereafter to constitutional review via amparo. The overall duration of proceedings, including appeals, depends largely on the court’s workload and proce- dural conduct of the parties. As a general rule, the entire process lasts between two and three years. 2.5 Confidentiality In Mexico, court proceedings are not public. Only the parties and their authorised representatives may
access the case file. In proceedings involving more than two parties, the court may also order that certain information be treated as confidential. For example, information related to the know-how of one of the par- ties to the proceedings. 2.6 Interim Relief Under Mexican law, the distinction between interim relief and interim injunctions is doctrinal rather than statutory. The prevailing view is that interim relief is the wider genus, whereas interim injunctions are a spe- cies of such relief. The interim injunctions available to a litigant are the following: • preservation measures, intended to maintain the status quo and ensure that any eventual judgment remains enforceable; and • security measures, designed to safeguard the outcome of the proceedings by preventing the dis- sipation of assets, the concealment of persons or the tampering with relevant evidence. Examples of the latter include the following: (a) precautionary attachment or freezing order, which restrains a debtor from alienating assets to secure satisfaction of the claim; (b) passport orders or restraining orders, which seek to prevent a party from absconding to frustrate the proceedings; and (c) freezing order over stock market securities to prevent their transfer, sale or use in new trans- actions pending litigation or arbitration. 2.7 Final Relief In Mexico, judgments in commercial cases are classi- fied as either declaratory or condemnatory. Declara- tory judgments determine a right, whereas condem- natory judgments require the defendant to perform an obligation. 2.8 Damages Damages are typically assessed by reference to objective factors evidencing a tortious act, such as breach of an obligation, causing direct infringement of rights. Proof of causation between the wrongful act and the harm is therefore essential to determine and quantify damages.
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