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Political and Legal Environment in Mexico

[36] Jorge A. Vargas, Mexico and its legal system. LLRX.com; . – National Action Party (PAN): centre-right on the right, liberal-conservative, Christian Democratic Party.- Party of the Institutional Revolution (PRI): centre-centre-left, oldest political party in the country, constitutionalist, technocratic, social conservative, big tent party.- Green Green Party of Mexico (PVE): centre-right, ecologist, conservative.- Workers` Party (PT): left, social democratic, working class, nationalist from the left.- Citizens` Movement (MC): centre-left, social-democratic, progressive.- Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD): centre-left on the left, social-democratic party. Other important historical contributions to the Mexican legal system have been Roman law, canon law, and medieval commercial law. Roman law influenced “the law of persons, family, inheritance, property, tort, unjust enrichment, and contracts.” [1] The influence of canon law is found above all “in the field of family law and inheritance (both parts of Roman civil law), criminal law and procedural law.” [2] The third historical component, medieval general commercial law, is most evident in the commercial codes of the modern civil law tradition. [3] Bribery and corruption are a significant problem in Mexico. Mexico ranks 124th out of 180 countries in Transparency International`s Corruption Perceptions Index and has moved up 11 places since 2017, despite rising scandals and recent criticism of impunity and the political use of anti-corruption investigations. The ranking remains a matter of serious concern, placing Mexico alongside countries such as Gabon and Pakistan. Currently, 15 former governors of Mexico are under investigation, one is in prison and other former senior officials are being prosecuted.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mexican government has increased opaque sole-source contracts in government procurement to record levels – unofficial estimates range from 70 to 80 percent – citing national security reasons to prevent an investigation into the details and using the military to execute key infrastructure projects. Nevertheless, public procurement guidelines and public procurement platforms will be strengthened to reduce the risk of corruption in public procurement. However, this in turn can result in the award of the lowest bid, regardless of quality, and there are still a number of shortcomings that many exploit. Many British companies report successful operations in Mexico that are free of corrupt practices, or have managed to find ways to avoid it, preventing them from doing business. Of course, in practice, in our complex modern world, not all possible situations of legal conflict can be foreseen and prepared. There are many situations where legal interpretation is required. In these situations, the fact that the civil law tradition originates in universities and not in the courts is significant. The civil law tradition was developed by jurists and not by judges and lawyers, as is the case with the common law tradition. Thus, the “authorities” of the civil law tradition were and are jurists and not judges and lawyers. Jurists in the civil law tradition produce legal contracts called doctrine (“doctrina” in Mexico).

Traditional judges, lawyers, and civil law students will refer to the doctrine of leading jurists as judges, lawyers, and law students refer to case law. According to John H. Merryman, “The law in a civil jurisdiction is what scholars say.” [35] The Federal Constitution is Mexico`s most important political document. This is the source and origin of all Mexican law. The Mexican Constitution of 1917 calls for a “federal, democratic and representative republic composed of free and sovereign states.” [19] All public power emanates from the people. The country, whose official name is the United Mexican States (Estados Unidos Mexicanos), consists of 31 states and one Federal District. Mexico City, the national capital, is located in the Federal District. There is a centralized federal government and individual state governments and a federal district government.

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