Baja Sur to Amend Constitution and Judiciary Act to Allow Alternative Dispute Resolutions (mediation and arbitration)

At a press conference, Governor Carlos Mendoza Davis, presented three initiatives sent to the State Congress on the issue of justice, with that said, it intends to reform the State Constitution to create the Council of the Judiciary Act Alternative mechanisms for dispute resolution and amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure to facilitate and expedite the enforcement of judgments.

He also said that these initiatives seek an orderly development, offering a state with legal certainty where no one is above the law or beyond.

He said the proposal for the creation of the Judicial Council of State seeking to have a dedicated and professional body of the judiciary, to address management tasks, security and judicial discipline inspection work.

He also stressed that the initiative presented also proposes reforms to the procedures for enforcement of sentences to give greater flexibility to the end of a trial, "to remove obstacles to who hopes, a slow justice is no longer fair," he said .

The state executive mentioned among the initiatives presented to the legislature, is the Law of Alternative Mechanisms of Dispute Resolution of the State of Baja California Sur, a document that seeks to have a viable tool for resolving conflicts efficiently and effective, through a system which establishes the general basis for mediation as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism between individuals, on rights in civil, commercial and family matters.

This is fantastic news for everyone due to the huge 5 to 10 year backlog of lawsuits in the Baja Sur Courts.  Mediation and Arbitration will allow legal disputes to be resolved in six months to a year and signficiantly reduce the cost of dispute resolution from those for Court actions.

Mediation of Disputes in Mexico in Lieu of Litigation or Arbitration

If you want to dramatically cut costs and waiting for a resolution, consider using Mediation to resolve  your  legal disputes in Mexico.

Mediation is an informal process where an impartial third-party, the mediator, helps the disputing parties find a mutually satisfactory solution to their issue. The mediator guides the parties toward a mutually agreeable settlement by helping them clarify their underlying interests and concerns, and encouraging compromise and trade-offs based on the relative importance of each item to each party.

Mediators cannot impose a resolution upon the parties since they are not able to make legally binding decisions. Any settlement reached, if in fact one is reached, is simply an agreement signed by the parties just like any other contract. The settlement does not have the same legal force as an Award which results from arbitration.

Mediation is usually well-suited to disputing parties who still have a somewhat amicable relationship, who are still able to negotiate, and who do not want a third-party to make final decision.  Statistically mediation has historically been successful somewhere between 40 to 50 percent of the times it has been used.

What do you need to do?  Put a written arbitration and mediation clause into all contracts you enter into in Mexico.  It will save you many years in Mexican courts and untold legal fees.

Email us at ddnelson@gmail.com if you want to learn more about mediation in Mexico and using it to resolve  your legal disputes.

Arbitration Works in Mexico and it is Much Faster Than Court System

Mexico has  excellent arbitration laws.  If you live and work in Mexico, you should consider putting an arbitration clause in your next contract or agreement. Such a clause in the event of a dispute may save you untold amounts of legal fees and time.  It is a fact that in many parts of Mexico the courts are so backlogged that  can take 5 to 18 years to get a decision and during the entire period attorneys are charging additional fees.

If you have an arbitration clause in your agreement you can usually get a decision within 6 months to a year and have that arbitration decision entered with the court as a judgment very quickly.  It is also possible to remove legal disputes from the Mexican Courts and have them resolved with arbitration if both parties agree.  The parties may agree just so they both get a quicker decision and possibly a more knowledgeable decision.

When parties arbitrate they can pick the arbitrator with experience in the particular area of law governing the dispute. Often when disputes are litigated in Court, the judge has little or no background in the governing law and therefore the final decision can be arbitrary and not predictable.

Arbitration decisions in most situations cannot be appealed. But if you have chose a knowledgeable arbitrator (1 or 3 arbitrators can be used ), and it saves you waiting 5,10 or more years for a decision, that disadvantage may be worth ignoring

In lieu of arbitration of disputes, consider mediation.  When parties mediate a neutral mediator with experience in the applicable laws works with the two opposing parties to help them reach a mutually satisfactory resolution.  Statistics show that mediation has a 30 to 50 percent chance of success and it is significantly less expensive than arbitration or litigation in Court.

Want to know more about Arbitration or Mediation in Mexico?  Want the proper provisions included in your legal agreements and  wish to know how to arbitrate your legal dispute in Mexico?  To learn more email us at ddnelson@gmail.com.   Don D. Nelson, Attorney at Law, CPA.