New Requirement for Recognition and Execution of Foreign Judgments in Mexico

On December 30, 2008 various provisions of the Mexican Commerce Code (Código de Comercio) and Federal Code of Civil Procedure (Código Federal deProcedimientos Civiles) were amended in regard to requirements for recognizing foreign judgments in civil and mercantile cases in Mexico. The amendmentestablishes that “a foreign Judge or tribunal is not competent when, in the legal acts leading to the decision that is sought to be executed, a clause existsproviding for submission of the matter solely to the jurisdiction of Mexican courts”. This reform seeks to provide definitive guidance on the execution ofjudgments issued by foreign courts (principally from the United States of America), based on any point of contact, in order to understand and resolve suchmatters, notwithstanding the fact that the parties in the dispute have submitted themselves to the jurisdiction of Mexican courts and, later, one of the partiesseeks to execute the judgment in Mexico. It is important for litigants in these disputes to decide in which country to file a given case in order to secure theexecution of the judgment resulting from such case.