The Afthermat Of The Mexican Election

Issue No. 27

Summer/Fall 2006

The Mexico Update
Mexico Committee • Section of International Law • American Bar Association

In This Issue:
The Aftermath of Mexico’s Presidential
Election: Maintaining the Rule of Law
by Gustavo Uribe Robles. .................................................. 2
This fascinating article by an expert in Mexican electoral
law explores the current crisisregarding Mexico’s presidential elections. Mr. Uribe Robles explains the mechanics of the electoral process, discusses the legal appeal that
the apparent loser has lodged with the electoral authorities,
and explores whether Mexico's electoral institutions are up
to the task of ensuring that Mexico's next leader will be
determined by the rule of law. He concludes that Mr.
López Obrador’sactions are “doing damage to the very
democratic institutions that his own party fought hard to
establish.”

Mexico’s Congress Approves Major
Competition Law Overhaul
by Omar Guerrero and Christopher Oatway....................... 8
The recent reforms to Mexico’s Federal Law on Economic
Competition represent a major victory for advocates of
competition law in Mexico. Christopher Oatway andOmar Guerrero describe the new features of Mexico’s
competition regime, including the important new powers
granted to Mexico’s competition watchdog. They provide
their thoughts about the future of antitrust enforcement in a
country dominated by numerous monopolies and oligopolies.

Highlights of Legislative Developments
Mexico Committee Staff ..................................................15
This section includes the Mexico Committee’s customary
summary of selected legal developments in Mexico as
published in the Mexican Federal Official Gazette. Also
featured is a special “Regulatory Newsflash” regarding
important developments in Mexico’s Federal Tax Code
authored by two tax practitioners, Arturo Tiburcio and Ana
Paula López Padilla.

A Note From The Chairs
and a Callfor Articles
This is an eventful and important period in
Mexican history and in the history of U.S.Mexican relations. While Mexico is largely occupied with internal issues such as consolidating
its democracy and improving the regulation of its
economy, numerous bilateral issues such as trade
and immigration have also taken their place at
center stage. The leadership of the Mexico
Committee isexcited about providing forums in
which to explore the legal backdrop against
which such issues will play out, and we are delighted to publish this 27th issue of the Mexico
Update.
We hope we can count on our members to
continue to share their expertise by drafting articles and otherwise being engaged in Mexico
Committee activities. If you are interested in
submitting an article for theMexico Update, or
in discussing a potential article, please contact
Christopher Oatway at (202) 662-5456 or coatway@cov.com.
If you would like to get involved in other
Committee activities, don’t hesitate to contact
any of the leadership listed on the final page of
this newsletter. We look forward to seeing many
of you in Miami on November 8-12 for the Fall
Meeting of the InternationalSection.
Visit the Mexico Committee
WEBSITE at:
http://www.abanet.org/intlaw/divisions/comparative/m
exiconews.html

The Mexico Update

Summer/Fall 2006 - Issue No. 27
II.

THE AFTERMATH OF MEXICO’S
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION:
MAINTAINING THE RULE OF LAW
by Gustavo Uribe Robles
I.

VOTING DAY:
THE MECHANICS OF MEXICO’S
ELECTORAL SYSTEM

The electoral procedures are set forth in theFederal Code of Electoral Procedures and Institutions (“COFIPE”) and implemented by the independent Federal Electoral Institute (“IFE”).
Each polling site is manned by citizens randomly
selected from the voter registry, who are supervised by representatives of the IFE. Also present
at every site are observers representing each political party, and in most cases there are also local and...