MEXICO Law and Practice Contributed by: Enrique Espejel, Diego Mora-Jensen, José Joaquín Pacheco and Luis Enrique Pérez García, White & Case
arbitration agreement implies the power to review whether the decision of the arbitrators is also in accordance with the binding conditions of the legal relationship of the parties beyond the mere arbitra - tion clause. Currently, Mexico’s judicial system is undergoing a period of uncertainty, stemming from the 2024 Judicial Reform, which seeks to replace all judges, magistrates, and Supreme Court Justices across the country through a citizen vote. In this context, arbitra - tion agreements may appear attractive for resolving certain disputes. However, there are several factors to bear in mind, such as the costs associated with arbitration and the high likelihood that a judicial pro - ceeding may still be necessary, as discussed below. Summary In conclusion, the aforementioned complications are not exclusive to Mexico. However, they have particular potential to violate the rights of the parties that decid - ed to submit their dispute to arbitration. Their concur - rence demonstrates the urgency for Mexican judges to adhere more closely to the principle of “minimum intervention” that prevails in arbitration matters. 4.2 Variations in Approach to Enforcement of Arbitral Awards New General Law on ADR Mechanisms Created on 26 January 2024, this general law regu - lates the functionality of ADR mechanisms such as negotiation, mediation, conciliation and arbitration, including the issuance of awards. This regulation applies to domestic awards, establishing that awards registered in any Mexican state are enforceable in any other state in Mexico. The new law creates a National System of Awards Information, which provides general data on the cur - rent status of specific awards. This system aims to facilitate the enforcement of awards anywhere within Mexican territory. Approach to Enforcement Under Mexican law, the approach to enforcing arbitral awards varies depending on the type of award. The authors believe that there are four main categories into
which arbitral awards can be classified, according to their subject matter: • commercial; • labour; • consumer protection; and • financial services user protection. The main differences in their enforcement are as fol - lows. Domestic or international commercial arbitration awards The enforcement of arbitral awards in commercial matters (domestic or international) must be carried out through the bodies belonging to the federal judi - cial power or the state judicial powers in each state and through a specialised judicial proceeding (see 4.4 Process of Enforcing Arbitral Awards ). The court responsible for the enforcement of a commercial arbi - tration award will be the court located in the jurisdic - tion where the arbitration takes place or, failing that, where the defendant’s address or assets are located (in that order). For the enforcement of the award, Mexican com - mercial law only requires the presentation of the duly authenticated original award (or a certified copy there - of) and the original arbitration agreement (or a certified copy thereof), which is in accordance with the New York Convention. If the award is in a language other than Spanish, it will be necessary to submit a transla - tion by an official expert translator. Labour matters awards For the resolution of labour disputes, the Mexican Federal Labour Law allows the parties to settle the dispute through an arbitration award before the con - ciliation centres (Article 939). In this respect, owing to the 2019 amendment to the Federal Labour Law, new conciliation and ADR agencies were created – namely, the Federal Centre for Labour Conciliation and Regis - tration and state conciliation centres. Pursuant to Article 939 and Article 940 of the Federal Labour Law, the federal labour courts are in charge of proceeding with the enforcement of such arbitration awards – enforcing them in the same way as a judg -
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