AMPARO TRIAL: PRINCIPLES, DIRECT AND INDIRECT - ARTE - 2024

The amparo trial is a resource for the protection of individual constitutional rights that can be used by both Mexicans and foreigners. It can be invoked by anyone who understands that their constitutional rights are being violated.

We speak of protection both for rights directly protected by the constitution, as well as the rights protected in the applicable international treaties.

The amparo, generally granted by a supreme or constitutional court, has a dual purpose of protection: it protects, on the one hand, the citizen and their basic rights, and on the other hand, it protects the constitution itself by ensuring that its principles are not violated by statutes or State actions that destroy the basic principles and rights enshrined in it (the constitution).

This protection and claim system provides a quick judicial resolution, since it participates in a summary procedure that requires only substantial evidence: that is, relevant evidence that a reasonable person could accept as adequate to support a conclusion.

It is an effective means of preventing and stopping the abuse of power by the authorities and a specific protection for human rights.

Origin and influences of the amparo trial

It originated in Mexico and has since been adopted by other Latin American countries. As established in articles 103 and 107 of the Mexican Constitution of 1917, currently in force, the amparo trial allows any individual or private group to seek protection or protection before the federal court for official abuses of the rights guaranteed by articles 1 -29 of the Constitution, the Declaration of Rights of Mexico.

It was established for the first time under the leadership of Manuel Crescencio Rejón through the 1841 Constitution of Yucatán, the federal statute in the Reform Law of 1847 and constitutionally by the liberal Federal Constitution of 1857.

The amparo trial is influenced by US legal practice, especially judicial review and in particular the Bill of Rights, as well as the Anglo-Saxon remedy of habeas corpus.

Its origin is also derived from Spanish sources, including the ancient fueros (special privileges of some regions), the procedures of the royal courts of Castile and Aragon, and various special courts of colonial Spanish America.

In addition, the French judicial appeal of cassation, the constitutional Senate of 1799, and the Declaration of the Rights of Man. The amparo proceeding therefore has a hybrid origin.

Principles of the amparo trial

The action must meet four requirements that support the amparo trial:

In the first place, the origin of the amparo action must be an act or omission on the part of a public or private authority. Acts or omissions can contain positive or negative actions. In the case of public authority, it can have its origin in any government instance.

Second, the injury must be real and imminent. The amparo trial was designed primarily to protect constitutional law on time, not a posteriori. Therefore, the requirement that rights are being violated at the time of sentencing has been added.

Third, it is necessary that the arbitrariness or illegality is manifested. The amparo is not intended to deprive any act of authority that appears flawed. The amparo trial will only take place when the act of the authority is arbitrarily arbitrary or illegal.

Finally, there must be no other means of claiming. The remedy of amparo is exceptional and is used only in the absence of any other mechanism (jurisdictional or non-jurisdictional) suitable for the protection of constitutional rights and freedoms.

Direct amparo trial

The claim of the direct amparo trial is presented before the responsible authority that redirects it to the Collegiate Circuit Court, which has the power to resolve. It proceeds and is indicated against final judgments or awards and resolutions that put an end to the trial.

According to article 170 of the Amparo Law, the suspension of the claimed act is granted or denied by the responsible authority. Once the Collegiate Court passes judgment, no recourse proceeds, except for the provisions of article 83, section V, of the Amparo Law.

Indirect protection trial

In the case of the indirect amparo trial, the claim or demand must be presented before the District Judge, who is competent to resolve these cases.

It is appropriate against laws, acts that do not originate in:

Judicial, administrative or labor courts.

Court acts (judicial, administrative or labor) carried out out of court or after the court has concluded.

Acts in the trial that have on people or things an execution of impossible repair.

Acts executed in or out of court that affect strangers to him, and in the terms of points II and III of article 1 of the Amparo Law.

The District Judge is the one who grants the suspension of the claimed act, being able to do so at the request of a party or ex officio. When it is done at the request of a party, it can be provisional or definitive.

With the suspension of the claimed act, it is intended to paralyze the effects of the claimed act so that things are preserved in the state in which they are at the time of resolution.

Against the resolution that grants or denies the definitive suspension by the District Judge, as well as the sentence that is issued in the amparo, the appeal for review will be heard by the Collegiate Circuit Court or the Court as the case may be.

Both direct and indirect protection proceedings have common principles such as:

Parte.

Judicial prosecution.

Definitiveness of acts of authority.

Direct and personal injury.

Strict right.

Relativity of amparo sentences.

Conclusions

The amparo trial is possibly the most important procedural mechanism in the Mexican legal system, as an extraordinary remedy.

It is a tool created for the protection of citizens' guarantees and although it is divided into two types of lawsuits, direct and indirect protection, its purpose is the same; protect and safeguard the constitutional order.

References

1. Ignacio Pinto-Leon. Amparo Trial: a Mexican Institution. Principles of the amparo trial.
2. Wikipedia. Writ of amparo. Origins in Mexico.
3. Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture. Definition Writ of Amparo.
4. Hert Legal Studies. What is the Mexican Amparo.
5. Bruce Zagaris. United States-Mexico Law Journal. The Amparo Process in Mexico. 3-1-1998.