Comparative Analysis of the

Amparo
Mexican Law and the
U.S. Judicial System by
Olga M. Lazin, UCLA
 The Amparo and American Law
✏ Habeas Corpus vs.
The Amparo
✏ Guilty until Proven
Innocent in Mexico
in a court of law.
✏ In the U.S. one is
innocent until
proven guilty.
 Major Differences
✏ Trial by a jury in the U.S.
✏ Trial by one judge in Mexico
✏ One cannot confront his/her
accuser in Mexico.
✏ Bounty hunting is legal in the
U.S.
✏ Bounty hunting is illegal in
Mexico.
 Amparo and Habeas Corpus
(U.S.)
✏ In Mexico, two lawyers Rejón and
Otero were concerned with the
unchecked power of executive and
legislative authorities at the national,
state, and local levels.
✏ Thus, Mexico’s Writ of Amparo reverses the
harsh Napoleonic Code to assure that at least
some persons/entities are presumed to be
Comparison HC vs Amparo
✏ In effect, the Amparo is “Habeas
Corpus” before arrest (not after
arrest as in the USA). Because the
judge who issues the Writ prevents
abusive arrest or action by non-
judicial branches of government, the
judge takes the individual or entity
under his/her care until the case is
resolved.
Judge vs trial by a jury of your
peers
✏ Such action by a judge is not practical for many cases
owing to the fact that the judge is responsible for
assuring that the accused will not flee or the entity will
not, eg, hide its assets.
✏ Thus, except for the very rich, who can afford to
“compensate” judges for the risk that they take, few
individuals/entities are granted Amparos.
✏ A no-cost exception occurs in egregious cases where the
general population demands that obviously unfair
governmental practices and/or threats be stopped by the
Courts.
 Duane Dog’s case
✏ Dog Duane was arrested here in the U.S.
by U.S. Marshals at Mexican authorities
request.
 Dog Jumped Bail in Mexico
✏ Dog's lawyer is
Bill Bollard.
✏ He is wanted
for unlawful
deprivation of
freedom of
Andrew Luster
in 2003 in PV.
 How Unintegrated the 2
Systems Are
✏ This case and many
others prove how
incompatible the 2
systems are. QuickTimeª and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
 Napoleonic code in Spanish
colonies and French dominions
✏ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleonic_Code
✏ Even though the Napoleonic Code was not the first civil
code and did not represent the whole of his empire, it was
one of the most influential. It was adopted in many
countries occupied by the French during the Napoleonic
Wars and thus formed the basis of the private law systems
also of Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Portugal
and their former colonies.
✏ In the German regions on the left bank of
the Rhine (Rhenish Palatinate and
Prussian Rhine Province) the Napoleonic
code was in use until the introduction of the
Bugerliches Gesetzbuch in 1900 as the first
common civil code for the entire German
empire.Napoleonic Code was also adopted
in 1864 in Romania (with some
modifications), which is still in force as of
2006.(articles 461 to 1914)
 MILITARY ACT, 2005

✏ Military Commissions Act last

summer, it gave the Bush
Administration the right to detain
anyone labeled an "unlawful enemy
combatant" - without charge or
trial - for as long as it pleases.
 http://foros.fox.presidencia.gob.mx/read.php?3,93807

✏ Express Hijackings in Mexico

were considered
misdemeanors. Only in 2005,
July were this type of
misdemeanors declared
hijackings or Kidnappings in
the Mexico City, but not in
the entire Republic.
✏