Francisco A. Avalos, The Mexican legal system, 2d. ed. Littleton, Colorado: Fred B. Rothman Publications, 2000.
An excellent, updated bibliography of sources in Spanish and English about Mexican law. A nineteen-page introduction is followed by a listing of primary and secondary sources arranged in more than 45 subject categories: Administrative Laws, Agrarian Reform Laws, Aliens and Nationality Laws, etc. Subject and author indexes are included. The introduction is available online at the University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law Library website: http://www.law.arizona.edu/.

James E. Herget and Jorge Camil, An introduction to the Mexican legal system. Buffalo: W.S. Hein, 1978.
A summary of the Mexican legal system in English. The book, which has not been updated, provides an overview of Mexican law and legal institutions for the non-Spanish speaker. Includes a bibliography of pre-1978 English language sources and a glossary.

David Lopez, The legal system of Mexico in Modern legal systems cyclopedia, edited by Kenneth Robert Redden. Buffalo: W.S. Hein, 1984 --
A current English-language summary of Mexican law (60 pages), a bibliography of sources in English (more than 25 pages) and a glossary of Mexican legal terms (8 pages).  

Thomas Reynolds and Arturo Flores, Mexico, in Foreign Law: Current Sources of Codes and Legislation, vol. 1-A. Littleton, Colorado: Fred B. Rothman Publications, 1989.
A very brief summary (8-pages) of Mexican law and a bibliography of sources arranged topically. Includes a list of websites. 

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Helen L. Clagett and David M. Valderrama, A revised guide to the law and legal literature of Mexico. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1973.
Revision of a 1945 guide. Although dated, this work is still useful for an understanding of Mexican law. 

. San Ángel, México : LVI Legislatura, Cámara de Diputados del H. Congreso de la Unión, 1995.
Proceedings of a 1995 Mexican legislative conference on dual nationality. In March 1998, Mexican law changed to allow dual nationality for those born in Mexico or born abroad to Mexican parents although they have become citizens of a country other than Mexico.

. México: Universidad Nacional Autónima de México, 1982.
A guide, in Spanish, for use of the Semanario Judicial de la Federación. The Semanario, which is also in Spanish, is the official publication of decisions of the Mexican Supreme Court (Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación) and is divided into Épocas or series. Although the ninth Época is the most recent series, the Manual was written before the eighth Época. A guide is necessary because indexing for the Semanario has varied over time. Decisions of the Mexican Supreme Court are now also available on the Mexican Supreme Court website: http://www.scjn.gob.mx/.

Ardsley-on-Hudson, N.Y. : Transnational Juris Publications, 1980-
A multi-volume looseleaf including English translations of selected Mexican laws. Subscription includes a bimonthly  newsletter, Legal Letter. 

Jorge A. Vargas, Mexican law : a treatise for legal practitioners and international investors. St. Paul, Minn.: West Group, 1998-
A multivolume treatise focusing on Mexican commercial and investment law. 

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Statutes
Leonel Pereznieto Castro and María Elena Masnilla y Mejía, eds., Manual práctico del extranjero en México. Tercera edición. México: Harla, 1996.
In Spanish. A selection of statutes (Ley de Nacionalidad, Ley de Población, Ley de Inversión Extranjera, Ley Federal de Derechos de Autor, etc.) and commentary on the laws that govern non-Mexicans in Mexico. Related regulations are also included. A fourth edition was published in 1999 by the Oxford University Press as volume 4 of the Biblioteca de Derecho Mercantil. See details at http://www.oupmex.com.mx/ .

Rafael de Pina, ed., Estatuto legal de los extranjeros. México: Editorial Porrúa, ___.
In Spanish. A selection of statutes (Ley de Nacionalidad, Ley de Población, Ley de Inversión Extranjera, Ley Federal de Turismo, etc.) that govern non-Mexicans in Mexico. Related regulations are also included. A new edition is published annually. See details at http://www.porrua.com/.

Salvado Rangel Solorzano, Karla Maria Lara Solis, Guia del Extranjero. Mexico: Oxford University Press, 1999.
In Spanish. A selection of statutes (Ley General de Población, Ley del Servicio Exterior Mexicano, Ley de Inversión Extranjera, Ley General de Salud, Ley federal del Trabajo relativo al número máximo de trabajadores extranjeros, Ley Aduanera) and related regulations for non-Mexicans investing and/or doing business in Mexico.

Jorge Witker, Derechos de los extranjeros. México: Cámara de Diputados, LVIII Legislatura; UNAM, 2001.
  In Spanish. This is a brief description of the human rights of non-citizens in Mexico derived from the Mexican Constitution, international conventions, and Mexican law.

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Dictionaries:  Spanish-English
Javier F. Becerra, Diccionario de terminología jurídica mexicana, español-inglés = Dictionary of Mexican legal terminology, Spanish-English. México : Escuela Libre de Derecho, 1999.
English language definitions of Spanish legal terms. Individual definitions range from a word or phrase to several paragraphs in length. Includes a bibliography of other Spanish and English legal dictionaries, thesauri, etc.

Guillermo Cabanellas de las Cuevas and Eleanor C. Hoague, Butterworths Spanish/English Legal Dictionary = Diccionario Jurídico Español Inglés Butterworths. Austin, Texas: Butterworth Legal Publishers, 1991.
Two volumes: one is English to Spanish; the other is Spanish to English. Each is more than 650 pages in length. Definitions range from very brief (one word or one phrase) to more complex translations.

Henry S. Dahl, Dahl's law dictionary : Spanish-English/English-Spanish : an annotated legal dictionary, including authoritative definitions from codes, case law, statutes, and legal writing and legal opinions of attorneys general = Diccionario jurídico Dahl. 3^rd ed. Buffalo, N.Y. : W.S. Hein, 1999.
An English to Spanish section of about 500 pages; Spanish to English section of about 350 pages. There is also a Table of Key Words in the back, in both English and Spanish arranged by topic, such as Administrative Law, Bankruptcy Law, Business Law, etc. Available on LEXIS: MEXICO;MXSPDAHL.

Diccionario jurídico mexicano. 4a ed. México : Editorial Porrúa : Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas, 1991.
Four volumes. Entirely in Spanish. Contains signed, essay-like definitions with bibliographic notes at the end of each. Published every year or two. Later editions are available.

Ivonne Navarette de Ricossa, Un tesoro de expresiones comerciales y legales = A thesaurus of commercial and legal expressions. 1a ed., 2a reimpresión. México : Instituto Mexicano de Contadores Publicos, [1997].
200+ page listing of English legal terms, with brief Spanish translations. A brief common abbreviations section appears in the back. Useful for keyword searching.

Rafael de Pina, Rafael de Pina Vara, Diccionario de Derecho. 26a ed. México : Editorial Porrúa, 1998.
Entirely in Spanish. Contains paragraph-long definitions and a brief section at the end on Aforismos, máximas y reglas juridicas (Aphorisms, maxims and judicial rules).

Julio Romañach, Dictionary of legal terms : Spanish-English, English-Spanish = Diccionario de términos jurídicos : español-inglés, inglés-español. Baton Rouge, LA : Jura Division, Lawrence Pub. Co., c1992.
English to Spanish and Spanish to English sections of about 100 pages each. Definitions are generally a phrase or two in length.

Gerardo Solís, West's Spanish-English, English-Spanish law dictionary = Diccionario legal espanõl-inglés, inglés-español. St. Paul, MN : West, 1992.
Spanish to English and English to Spanish sections of about 300 pages each. Definitions/explanations tend to be about one paragraph in length.

For additional information about Spanish-English Legal Dictionaries, see A comparative review of Spanish-English Legal Dictionaries by Jose R. Torres, pages 230-235 in the Best Legal Reference Books of 1993, compiled by Linda Karr O’Connor, 86 Law Library Journal 219 (1994).

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Mexican Websites
Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas / InfoJus, 

Universidad Autónoma de México

http://info.juridicas.unam.mx/
Provides links to the Mexican constitution, federal legislation, recent issues of the Diario Oficial, and judicial decisions, all in Spanish. In addition, the Biblioteca Juridica Virtual link  (http://info.juridicas.unam.mx/infjur/leg/jrs/) from the InfoJus website contains selected Mexican legal periodicals in full text.

Presidencia de la Republica / Mexican Presidency

http://www.presidencia.gob.mx
The presidential website is available in English, Spanish and French.

Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nacion / Mexican Supreme Court

http://www.scjn.gob.mx/
In Spanish only.

Senado de la Republica / Mexican Senate

http://www.senado.gob.mx
In Spanish only.

Camara de Diputados / Mexican Chamber of Deputies

http://www.camaradediputados.gob.mx
In Spanish only. In addition to information about the Chamber of Deputies itself, this website provides links to other Mexican government websites, federal and state. See Sitios de Interés:
http://www.camaradediputados.gob.mx/sinteres.html

Precisa.gob.mx
http://precisa.gob.mx/splash.php
Enlaces a los sitios del Gobierno Mexicano / Links to Mexican government websites

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English Language Websites about Mexican Law
Electronic Guide to Mexican Law, Francisco Avalos and Elisa Donnadieu

http://www.llrx.com/features/mexican.htm
A brief explanation of Mexican law with links to Mexican federal and state government information, including information about how to find relevant materials (diarios, gacetas, boletines) on the websites of individual Mexican states. Part VIII of the guide lists English- and Spanish-language NAFTA sources online. 

Mexican Law, Jorge Vargas
http://www.mexlaw.com
Professor Vargas’ Guide to Electronic Resources for Mexican Law provides links to and descriptions of major U.S. and Mexican websites for Mexican law. The website also provides a synopsis of Mexican law on business, investment and trade and a guide to recent developments in those areas.

Mexican Law, Politics and Government - Mexican Legal Resources,

Mike Madin
http://www.academicinfo.net/mexicolaw.html 
Links to major Mexican government sites and to U.S. and Canadian websites with information about Mexico. 

Mexican Legal Materials Published in English
Underwood Law Library, Southern Methodist University
http://library.law.smu.edu/resguide/mexico.htm
Bibliography of print sources in the Underwood Law Library, Westlaw and Lexis databases, and links to some websites.

Mexican Legal Materials Published in Spanish
Underwood Law Library, Southern Methodist University
http://library.law.smu.edu/resguide/mexico2.htm
Research guide with links to major Mexican legal research websites and suggestions for searching legislative, scholarly and judicial materials. Print sources in the Underwood Law Library are discussed.

Mexico, Law Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/law/guide/mexico.html
Links to the Mexican Constitution online, to webpages maintained by Executive, Judicial and Legislative branches of the Mexican government and to selected guides to Mexican law. General Sources, such as U.S. State Department background notes, country reports and guides to Mexico are also included. 

Mexico Law / Leyes
National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade
http://www.natlaw.com/mexico.htm
The website (http://www.natlaw.com) contains links to Novedades, the Inter-American Trade Report, and the InterAm Database. The subscription database includes the laws of Latin American countries in their original languages, English language versions of selected laws and a translation service.

Researching the Law of Mexico

The University of Michigan Law Library, Beatrice Tice

http://www.law.umich.edu/library/refres/resguides/mexico/mex01.htm
This guide to sources available at the University of Michigan Law Library is an annotated bibliography with background information about the Mexican legal system and sources of law.

Miscellaneous
Law portals such as ALSO/American Law Sources Online,  FindLaw, Hieros Gamos, and Jurist have links to selected Mexican legal webpages. 

Many university and law school libraries have web pages on Mexican legal research: Arizona State University's Ross-Blakley Law Library, Australasian Legal Information Institute, Cornell's Legal Information Institute, Georgetown's Political Database of the Americas, NYU, Washburn University's WashLaw Web, etc.

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Last revised: 11/5/02