- The Mexican Supreme Court ruled not to invalidate the amendments to the Electricity Industry Law enacted in March 2021, and therefore said amendments may be enforced by Mexican governmental authorities
- The Constitutional relief actions (amparos) filed against the amendments to the Electricity Industry Law are unaffected, and therefore federal courts shall rule on them without restriction.
- As part of the analysis by the SCJN, a majority of the justices found that certain provisions of the Decree of amendments are in violation of the Constitution.
Yesterday, Mexico’s Supreme Court of Justice en banc (“SCJN”) ruled on a Constitutional action entered by certain members of the Mexican Congress against the Decree amending and adding multiple provisions to the Electricity Industry Law (the “ (the “LIE Reform Decree”) published in the Federal Register on March 9, 2021. In this link . In this link you may read a short summary on the content of the LIE Reform Decree. Also, in this link you will find a courtesy translation of said LIE Reform Decree.
Strictly speaking, the SCJN determined to dismiss the constitutional action because the decision did not reach the qualified majority required by article 105 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States and its regulatory Law. In accordance with applicable law, at least 8 (out of 11 justices in total) are required in order to completely invalidate a law and therefore make it unenforceable.
As a result of the foregoing, the LIE Reform Decree shall be enforced like any other provision in the Mexican legal system and therefore it may be subject to multiple actions against it, such as Constitutional relief actions.
The Constitutional relief actions entered and to be entered against all or part of the provisions of the LIE Reform Decree will continue their regular procedure and may be ruled upon freely by federal courts and tribunals; that is, without being obligated to follow a precedent from the SCJN. However, the unconstitutionality arguments made by the majority of the justices of the SCJN when ruling on the Constitutional action discussed herein will surely be used a non-binding precedent for such judges and magistrates when ruling on such pending Constitutional relief actions.
Hare you may find a note related to the Constitutional relief actions filed against the LIE Reform Decree. Recall (as mentioned in the aforesaid note) that last year federal courts granted injunctive relief in the form of erga omnes suspensions against the application of the LIE Reform Decree and therefore the SCJN’s ruling does not affect such suspensions. In other words, until the aforesaid erga omnes suspensions are not revoked or otherwise vacated, the LIE Reform Decree may not be enforced.
The Constitutional relief actions entered against the LIE Reform Decree may still end up being reviewed by the SCJN en banc or one of its two courtrooms.
In summary, the application or not of the LIE Reform Decree will be a matter of each Constitutional relief action that companies filed in each particular case. Yesterday’s ruling by the SCJN did not alter such status quo of such actions.
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This document does not constitute legal advice.
