The recent surge in illegal firearms trafficking from the U.S. into Mexico has helped empower Mexican criminal groups to adopt highly confrontational strategies, contributing to a surge of violence throughout the country. This article addresses the regulatory asymmetries between Mexico and the U.S. with respect to the production, import, export, sales and possession of firearms. It reviews several important gun laws and explores why this asymmetry limits bilateral cooperation and encourages gray market activity. It also examines the autonomy of U.S. states to regulate firearms, as this creates a diverse regulatory map that complicates any effort to stem smuggling. The results are flourishing gray markets on one side of the border and violent criminal activity on the other.
Abstract The recent surge in illegal firearms trafficking from the U.S. into Mexico has helped empower Mexican criminal groups to adopt highly confrontational strategies, contributing [...]
Biobanking presents significant governance challenges. This is especially evident in Mexico, where the legal framework has not kept up with significant industry expansion. Twenty years ago, Europe was in a similar position. More recently, Europe has developed a comprehensive framework for addressing biobank expansion within ever-growing scientific and biomedical research communities. Based on this experience, we can draw many lessons, including those involving the implementation of laws, procedures and stakeholders’ consensus to ethically maximize the potential of samples. Mexican biobanking raises many issues, requiring solutions that are sensitive to its own particular needs. This article analyses the flaws of current biobanking regulations in Mexico by drawing comparisons with Europe. It pays special attention to informed consent, sample/data sharing systems, ethical tissue treatment and classification, governance models, best practices and the role of ethics committees. It argues that several European provisions regarding data protection and sharing can serve as guidelines for international research collaboration currently taking place between Mexico and Europe.
Abstract Biobanking presents significant governance challenges. This is especially evident in Mexico, where the legal framework has not kept up with significant industry expansion. [...]
This study, based on thirty-eight interviews of principals from public middle schools in Mexico City, analyzes the criteria and methods used by these school officials to identify underperforming teachers, as well as how they wield discretionary authority. The study also proposes several measures that can be implemented by educational authorities to improve how these cases are handled. These measures include improving both principals’ training and the mechanisms used to evaluate teacher performance in the classroom.
Abstract This study, based on thirty-eight interviews of principals from public middle schools in Mexico City, analyzes the criteria and methods used by these school officials to identify [...]
This note examines the political context surrounding the banning of the Mexican American Studies program in Tucson, Arizona and the Acosta v. Huppenthal decision, which leaves the ban largely intact. The convergence of economic crisis and partisan politics contributed to the rise in anxiety over the demographic shifts of the state of Arizona, for which Mexican American Studies became a symbolic target for Republicans. Mexican American Studies was declared in violation of a new law passed by the Republican dominated legislature, A.R.S. § 15-112, by Arizona Superintendent John Huppenthal, despite the conclusion by an independent audit he ordered which concluded otherwise. This left leaders within the Mexican American community and civil rights organizations with the conclusion that the ban on Mexican American Studies was politically motivated. This note explores the motivations by individual political actors, such as the current Attorney General of Arizona Tom Horne, and how he rose to power on a platform centered on the ban against Mexican American Studies.
Abstract This note examines the political context surrounding the banning of the Mexican American Studies program in Tucson, Arizona and the Acosta v. Huppenthal decision, which leaves [...]
The international responsibility of States is based on two legal precepts: first, a State must be subject to international obligations, and second, a State must be responsible for noncompliance with such obligations. Specific and concrete damages are not required for the allocation of international responsibility to a State. Given these elements, the Inter-American Human Rights System, through the Inter-American Court, will not hear disputes involving a State’s international responsibility without the existence of a specific and concrete human rights violation. While this seems appropriate, rulings by the Inter-American Court have subsequently opened the door to States’ objective in ternational responsibility, i.e., responsibility under the American Convention on Human Rights that require no showing of a specific violation. In the author’s view, the international responsibility of States, similar to Public International Law, should be based on noncompliance without the need for a victim –especially in human rights cases. For this reason, the Inter-American Court is correct in holding States responsible for domestic laws that contravene its own human rights commitments under international treaties– regardless of whether or not these norms have been enforced.
Abstract The international responsibility of States is based on two legal precepts: first, a State must be subject to international obligations, and second, a State must be responsible [...]
This article tackles the complex question of the relationship between international and domestic adjudicatory bodies. It does so by analyzing the debate between liberals and developmentalists over the effects of investor-state arbitration tribunals on domestic courts. For liberals, investor-state tribunals are a positive complement to domestic judicial institutions for their ability to “de-politicize” investment disputes, leading to economic policy stability that encourages foreign investment. For developmentalists, the same international alternatives reduce institutional quality by allowing powerful actors such as powerful corporations to skirt local judicial institutions. Through a comprehensive analysis of the negotiations of Chapter Eleven of NAFTA and the recent cases in the sweeteners conflict between Mexico and the United States, this article attempts to address how investor-state arbitration tribunals and constitutional courts interact and affect each other. The case study reveals two important lessons to this debate: i) scholars arguing against investor-state arbitration on the grounds of “circumvention” of domestic courts may do well to calibrate the debate of the use of remedies as one of added remedial possibilities in complex litigation, ii) those defending investor-state arbitration on the grounds of “de-politicization” of investment disputes may do well to consider the veto power wielded by international adjudicatory bodies that impact the judiciary and political systems of the host country.
Abstract This article tackles the complex question of the relationship between international and domestic adjudicatory bodies. It does so by analyzing the debate between liberals and [...]
Over the last twenty-five years, a number of justice reform projects funded by international actors have been implemented in Latin America. No less than 2 billion US dollars were disbursed for this purpose. Several questions on this issue are addressed in this article: How does international aid work in the field of justice and what is the rationale used? What is the relationship between and the dynamics of the actors who participate in international aid? What are the results of the funded projects and what limits have been encountered? Has international support for justice reform been worthwhile? The author elaborates on the central argument that international actors underperform their role mainly for two reasons. One, the approach used in the recipient country seriously restricts the proper comprehension of the root causes of the problems country faces. Two, international actors lack serious interest in learning. In the predominant approach, bureaucratic criteria prevail: projects are designed and promoted according to the aid agency’s blueprint, evaluation is usually poor and money is readily available. If in a given country there are no strong national actors, international agencies establish asymmetrical relationships with their counterparts, tend to import recipes that hardly suit the conditions in the country, and impose paths to reform that are difficult for local actors to appropriate. Cooperation agencies have disseminated an ideological construct based on a non-proven causal relationship between justice systems and economic growth as the driving force for reform. International actors could do better were they to develop a capacity for learning, but this goal seems difficult for them to reach.
Abstract Over the last twenty-five years, a number of justice reform projects funded by international actors have been implemented in Latin America. No less than 2 billion US dollars [...]
BRICS is an exogenous invention that was institutionalized as a convenient geopolitical market strategy, which favored each of the five BRICS countries to a greater or a lesser degree. As such, it is now a political group without deep roots and its future will be conditioned by any dividends it might yield over the coming years as a result of political, economic and social correlations and divergences.
Abstract BRICS is an exogenous invention that was institutionalized as a convenient geopolitical market strategy, which favored each of the five BRICS countries to a greater or a lesser [...]
The main function of administrative courts in Mexico is to resolve disputes between administrative agencies and citizens. Mexico is a federal system with 31 states and a Federal District. Twenty-nine states and the Federal District have administrative courts of this type. Most of these courts follow the French model of reviewing administrative actions in bodies that do not form part of the regular justice system. However, almost half of the states have deviated from this model and ascribed these administrative courts to the judicial branch. How does this change in the institutional framework influence the way administrative court judges review administrative action disputes? In order to answer this question we analyzed the rulings of judges from the different types of courts empirically. The Mexican federal court structure made this experiment possible because there are both administrative courts incorporated into the judiciary and autonomous courts. We used a database of more than 4, 000 cases from over twenty local administrative courts. We analyzed the influence of the branch to which the court belongs, the procedures of appointment for judges, the length of a judge’s term in office, and the protection of judges’ salaries over their actual decisions. We classified decisions into two broad categories: pro-government decisions and case dismissals. The results point toward evidence that the branch to which the court belongs, the length of a judge’s term in office and governor intervention in the appointment of judges affect judges’ decisions.
Abstract The main function of administrative courts in Mexico is to resolve disputes between administrative agencies and citizens. Mexico is a federal system with 31 states and a Federal [...]
In June 2000, the United States and Mexico signed a treaty for the delimitation of the continental shelf in the western Gulf of Mexico beyond 200 nautical miles. When the treaty was signed, both countries realized that the interpretation and implementation of the treaty depended on the scientific and legal certainty of determinations regarding how far their respective submarine continental shelves extended. On 13 December 2007, Mexico submitted information to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf regarding the limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured in relation to the Western Polygon in the Gulf of Mexico. Mexico sought an extension of its continental shelf in the Western Polygon based on international law, UNCLOS, and bilateral treaties with the United States, in accordance with Mexicos domestic legislation. Peaceful delimitation of maritime borders is essential to maintaining world order. Mexico is a country of peace, and has attempted to use international law as a tool to represent its interests. Mexico has meticulously adhered to a series of international precedents and treaties to support its claim. Moreover, Mexico has gathered significant scientific evidence to verify its sovereign authority over its maritime areas. In the authors opinion, the United States should recognize these claims and show the world that the U.S. stands for fairness, equity and the rule of law.
Abstract In June 2000, the United States and Mexico signed a treaty for the delimitation of the continental shelf in the western Gulf of Mexico beyond 200 nautical miles. When the [...]
This article discusses the impact of the influx of migrants from Mexico and Central America on the American Southwest. Specifically, it discusses how Native American tribes of the Southwest, especially the Tohono O’odham Nation, have become a magnet for illegal border crossings due to lax enforcement policies on tribal land. As a result, the tribe has encountered a surge in drug-trafficking, violence, and environmental destruction on its reservation. The article first analyzes the trust doctrine between the Native American tribes and the United States federal government. It concludes with a discussion of the monetary and equitable relief available to the Tohono O’odham Nation in the form of damage awards and increased border protection.
Abstract This article discusses the impact of the influx of migrants from Mexico and Central America on the American Southwest. Specifically, it discusses how Native American tribes [...]
Drawing on T.H. Marshall’s classic analysis of how civil, political and social rights evolved in Great Britain, this article follows authors, like Rose and Shin, who used a “social pyramid” to illustrate how the inverted development of such citizenship rights in other nations may weaken liberal democracy. In contrast, I argue that this sequence varies depending on a society’s own unique history, and that no one single path can define the development of liberal democracy. In Mexico, the development of citizenship rights (mainly social, political and civil, following T.H. Marshall’s categorization) was catalyzed by a series of economic and security-related crises that impacted a broad cross-section of Mexican society. The result of these pressures —both from above (organized elites) and below (organized popular groups)— has been greater enforcement of already existing political rights. This major change eventually led to competitive ballot elections (since the late 1990s) which in turn has forced politicians to focus on reshaping social rights (e.g., making their application universal rather than selective). Since President Felipe Calderon’s (2006-2012) “war on drugs, ” there has also been notable legislation —backed by widespread public support— to strengthen civil rights (e.g., 2008 criminal justice reform, 2011 reforms to the amparo and human rights).
Abstract Drawing on T.H. Marshall’s classic analysis of how civil, political and social rights evolved in Great Britain, this article follows authors, like Rose and Shin, who used [...]
Regulatory challenges for preventing firearms smuggling into Mexico 
