MEXICO Trends and Developments Contributed by: Carlos de la Garza, Raúl Acosta and Enrique Tamez, De la Garza & Acosta
ii) Foreign arbitral awards Under the Commercial Code, to initiate enforcement in Mexico of foreign commercial arbitral awards, the original authenticated award or a certified copy there - of must be presented to a competent court. However, in December 2022, the First Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation ruled unanimously that the requirement to present the “duly authenticated” original award or a certified copy thereof violates the right of access to justice. Therefore, this requirement cannot limit the request for enforcement of the award. Recognition and enforcement of a commercial arbitral award can only be denied if any of the grounds in Arti - cle 1462 of the Commercial Code are proven, such as: • one party to the arbitration agreement was under some incapacity or the agreement is invalid; • one party was not duly notified of the appointment of an arbitrator or of the arbitration proceedings or was unable, for any reason, to assert their rights; • the award deals with a dispute not contemplated by the arbitration agreement; • the composition of the arbitral tribunal or the arbitral procedure was not in accordance with the agreement of the parties; • the award is not yet binding on the parties or has been annulled or suspended by a court in the country in which it was made; or • the court finds that, under Mexican law, the sub - ject matter of the dispute is not capable of being arbitrated or that recognition or enforcement would be contrary to public policy. Legal remedies against judgment execution To avoid undue delays in the execution of a judgment, determinations made during this stage cannot gener - ally be challenged through amparo proceedings. The final resolution of the execution, which declares it concluded or impossible to execute the judgment, is typically the point at which irregularities can be chal - lenged through an amparo complaint. Judgment execution restrictions and obstacles In addition to other legal exceptions where it is not possible to seize assets from the condemned party, cases may arise where the debtor benefits from a pre -
cautionary measure within an insolvency declaration ( concurso mercantil ) that prevents asset seizures. Another factor to consider is the priority of liens on the debtor’s assets that another creditor may hold. Therefore, it is recommended that such possible liens are investigated in available public records in Mexico to determine the feasibility of enforcement. Asset research A critical part of achieving effective judgment enforce - ment is investigating the defendant’s assets. Credi - tors have various tools at their disposal, including the Public Property Registers in each of Mexico’s 32 fed - eral entities, where searches for real estate, personal property or registered rights in the debtor’s name can be conducted. This information can then be used to request that the court imposes a seizure on the identi - fied assets. Registering a seizure in the Public Property Registers incurs fees, typically calculated based on the amount to be guaranteed by the seizure. Each federal entity’s Public Property Register has its regulations and fees, so the applicable legislation must be consulted to determine the payable amount. If the cost is exces - sively high for a significant seizure, it is possible to seek its adjustment through an amparo proceeding. The Public Trade Mark Register also allows verification of whether a trade mark’s use is registered in favour of an individual, enabling the seizure or enforcement of a judgment on these intangible IP rights. The Public Commerce Registry (SIGER 2.0) operated by the Secretariat of the Economy allows searches of commercial companies operating in Mexico using basic information such as the company’s name or the shareholders’ names. This electronic database stores information about commercial companies, such as their articles of incorporation, assemblies, and power of attorney grants. This is useful for assessing their share ownership, restructuring or bankruptcy pro - ceedings, existing seizures, among other matters. Additional tools include the Portal of Commercial Companies, which is also operated by the Secretariat of the Economy and publicises various legal acts such
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