Constitution of Mexico

Mexico is a country in North America, bordering the United States, Guatemala, and Belize. The population of this country is approx 12,98,75,000 with 19,72,550 square kilometers area. The official language is Mexican Spanish, with 68 other co-official languages at various levels. 78% are Christians, almost all of them are Catholics. Also 14% do not believe in any religion.

Mexico's constitution prohibits discrimination based on biological gender, age, physical disability, medical condition, or anything else. Education provided by the State will be secular and science based. The government will prepare the academic syllabus and accordingly the teaching will be done all over the state. Freedom of speech is open; However, restrictions may be imposed due to privacy, third party rights, crime, public order disturbance etc. No armed meeting will be organized. No titles of nobility, or privileges and hereditary honors shall be conferred.

Every child has the right to an identity and registration immediately after birth. The State shall register the birth free of charge and issue a certified certificate thereof.

All religious activities shall be practiced inside the place of worship, and all activities outside the place of worship must conform to state laws. It is strictly prohibited to form any kind of political party with a name containing any word or any other symbol related to any religion. No meeting of a political character shall be held inside the place of worship.

These are positive aspects. Now let's discuss the negative aspects.

Many things of the constitution have been elaborated, which has made the constitution long. Some passages are literally novel-length. Only the fundamentals should be included in the constitution. As well as mentioning so many unrelated things together in one article - this is also stinky. Even the sorting and formatting style is not normal.

Everyone has a constitutional right to bear arms, which creates a fearful social order. Everyone is keeping guns at home for their own ‘safety’, this mentality is terrifying. Only law enforcers will bear arms - this concept is the hallmark of a healthy society.  

 

Admirable Articles of Mexico's Constitution

Article 1 (Part of it)

Any form of discrimination, based on ethnic or national origin, gender, age, disabilities, social status, medical conditions, religion, opinions, sexual orientation, marital status, or any other form, which violates the human dignity or seeks to annul or diminish the rights and freedoms of the people, is prohibited.

 

Article 3 (Part of it)

Education provided by the State shall develop harmoniously all human abilities and will stimulate in pupils the love for the country, respect for human rights and the principles of international solidarity, independence and justice.

The State will guarantee the quality in mandatory education, in a way that educational material and methods, school organization, educational infrastructure and the suitability of teachers and principals ensure the highest learning achievement of students.

● According to the Article 24 regarding the freedom of religion, the education provided by the State shall be secular, therefore, state education shall be maintained entirely apart from any religious doctrine.

● The guiding principles for state education shall be based on scientific progress and shall fight against ignorance and its effects, servitude, fanaticism and prejudices.
 Furthermore, state education shall:

● Be democratic, understanding democracy not only as a legal structure and political regime, but also as a way of life grounded on the continuous economic, social and cultural development;

● Be national, which means that, without hostility or exclusivism, state education shall cover national problems and the utilization of our resources, shall defend our political independence, assure our economic independence, and preserve and develop our culture;

● Contribute to a better human coexistence, in order to strengthen the appreciation and respect for cultural diversity, human dignity, the integrity of the family, the convictions over society’s general interest, the fraternity and equality of rights ideals, avoiding privileges based on race, religion, group, sex or individual, and

● It shall be of quality, based on the constant progress and highest academic achievement of the students;

● To fully comply with the provisions established in the second paragraph and under section II, the Federal Executive shall establish the syllabus for preschool, elementary and secondary education, as well as for teacher training colleges, to be applied throughout the country. To that end, the Federal Executive shall take into account the opinion of the States’ and the Federal District’s governments, as well as the opinions of civil society groups involved in education, teachers and parents, in accordance with the law. Additionally, admission to teaching positions and the promotions to management and supervisory positions in basic and medium education ran by the State shall be granted through competitive contest that shall guarantee that the knowledge and abilities are suitable for the post. The implementing law will set the criteria, terms and conditions of the mandatory evaluation for the admission, promotion, acknowledgment and continuance in the professional service with full respect to the constitutional rights of education workers. All admissions and promotions not granted according to law shall be deemed null and void. The provisions in this paragraph shall not be applicable to institutions referred to in section VII of this article;

● All the education provided by the State shall be free of charge;

● Private entities may provide all kinds of education. In accordance with the law, the State shall have powers to grant and cancel official accreditation to studies done at private institutions. In the case of pre-school, elementary and secondary education, as well as teacher training college, private schools must:

● Provide education in accordance with the same purposes and criteria established in paragraph second and section II, as well as to comply with the syllabus mentioned in section III; and

● Obtain a previous and explicit authorization from the authorities, under the terms provided by the Law.

● In order to guarantee the provision of quality education services, the National Education Evaluation System has been created. The National Institute for the Evaluation of Education will coordinate said system. The National Institute for the Evaluation of Education will be an autonomous public agency, with legal personality and its own budget. The Institute shall evaluate the quality, performance and results of the national educational system in the preschool, elementary, junior high and high school. To that end, it shall:

● Design and perform the evaluation measurements corresponding to components, processes or results of this system;

● Issue the guidelines to which the federal and local educational authorities will be subject to, to perform the corresponding evaluation functions, and

● Generate and publicize information, based on which it will issue the relevant guidelines to contribute to decisions about the improvement of education quality and its equity as an essential factor in the search of social equality.

● The law shall establish the necessary mechanisms and actions to allow efficacious cooperation and coordination between the Institute and the federal and local education authorities to achieve a better discharge of their respective duties.

 

Article 4 (Part of it)

Man and woman are equal under the law. The law shall protect the organization and development of the family.

All individuals have the right to nutritional, sufficient and quality nourishment. The State shall guarantee this.

Any person has the right of access, provision and drainage of water for personal and domestic consumption in a sufficient, healthy, acceptable and affordable manner. The State will guarantee such right and the law will define the bases, subsidies and modality for the equitable and sustainable access and use of the freshwater resources, establishing the participation of the Federation, local governments and municipalities, as well as the participation of the citizens for the achievement of such purposes.

Any family has the right to enjoy a decent and respectable house. The law will set the instruments and supports necessary to achieve such objective.

Any person has the right to identity and to be registered immediately after their birth. The State shall guarantee the compliance of these rights. The competent authority shall issue, without any cost, the first certified copy of the birth certificate or registration.

The State will grant aid to individuals in order to assist with the compliance of the rights of children.

Every person has cultural rights, has the right of access to culture and the right to enjoy state cultural services. The State shall provide the means to spread and develop culture, taking into account the cultural diversity of our country and respecting creative freedom. The law shall provide instruments that guarantee access and participation of any cultural expression.

All individuals have a right to physical culture and the practice of sports. The State shall promote and stimulate this right by issuing laws on the matter.

 

Article 6 (Part of it)

Expression of ideas shall not be subject to judicial or administrative inquiry, except for those cases when such expression of ideas goes against the moral, privacy or the rights of third parties, causes perpetration of a felony, or disturbs the public order. The right of reply shall be exercised according to law. The State shall guarantee the right to information.

 

Article 9

The right to peacefully associate or assembly for any licit purpose cannot be restricted. Only citizens of the Republic may take part in the political affairs of the country. No armed meeting has the right to deliberate.

Meetings organized to make a petition or to submit a protest to any authority cannot be considered as unlawful, nor be broken, provided that no insults are uttered against the authority and no violence or threats are used to intimidate or force the decision of such authority.

 

Article 12

No titles of nobility, nor prerogatives and hereditary honors shall be granted in the United Mexican States. Furthermore, those granted by any other country shall have no effect.

 

Article 16 (Part of it)

No person shall be disturbed in his private affairs, his/her family, papers, properties or be invaded at home without a written order from a competent authority, duly explaining the legal cause of the proceeding.

The Public Prosecution Service may order arrest of the accused, explaining the causes of such decision, only under the following circumstances all together: a) in urgent cases, b) when dealing with serious offence, c) under reasonable risk that the accused could evade the justice and, d) because of the time, place or circumstance, accused cannot be brought before judicial authority.

In cases of urgency or flagrancy, the judge before whom the prisoner is presented shall immediately confirm the arrest or order his release, according to the conditions established in the law.

Private communications shall not be breached. The law shall punish any action against the liberty and privacy of such communications, except when they are voluntarily given by one of the individuals involved in them. A judge shall assess the implications of such communications, provided they contain information related to the perpetration of a crime. Communications that violate confidentiality established by law shall not be admitted in any case.

Only the federal judicial authority can authorize telephone tapping and interception of private communications, at the request of the appropriate federal authority or the State Public Prosecution Service. The authority that makes the request shall present in writing the legal causes for the request, describing therein the kind of interception required, the individuals subjected to interception and the term thereof. The federal judicial authority cannot authorize telephone tapping nor interception of communications in the following cases: a) when the matters involved are of electoral, fiscal, commercial, civil, labor or administrative nature, b) communications between defendant and his attorney.

Authorized telephone tapping and interception of communications shall be subjected to the requirements and limitations set forth in the law. The results of telephone tapping and interception of communications that do not comply with the aforesaid requirements will not be admitted as evidence.

 

Article 18 (Part of it)

Convicts may serve their sentence in the penitentiaries closer to their home, in order to encourage their reintegration to the community. This provision shall not be applicable to organized crime and to inmates who require special security measures.

Special centers shall be created for preventive imprisonment and for penalties regarding organized crime. The competent authority can restrict communication between accused person or prisoner and third parties in the event of organized crime, except for defender. The authority also can impose measures of special surveillance on these inmates. This provision can be applied to other inmates who require special security measures.

 

Article 22 (Part of it)

Penalties of death, mutilation, infamy, marks, physical punishments, torture, excessive fines, confiscation of assets, and other cruel punishments are prohibited. Every penalty shall be in proportion to the crime committed and to the legally protected interest.

 

Article 24

Every person has the right to have freedom of ethical convictions, of conscience and of religion, and to have or to adopt, as the case may be, the one of her preference. Such freedom includes the right to participate, individually or collectively, in both public and private ceremonies, worship or religious acts of the respective cult, as long as they are not a felony or a misdemeanor punished by law. No person is allowed to use these public acts of religious expression with political ends, for campaigning or as means of political propaganda.

Congress cannot dictate laws that establish or abolish any given religion.

Ordinarily, all religious acts will be practiced in temples, and those that extraordinarily are practiced outside temples must adhere to law

 

Article 28 (Part of it)

In the United Mexican States, all monopolies, monopoly practices, state monopolies and tax exemptions are prohibited. Protectionist policies are also prohibited.

 

Article 130 (Part of it)

The historic principle of separation between the State and religion shall guide the provisions established in this article. Churches and any other religious groups shall observe the law.

Only the Congress of the Union can legislate on matters of public worship, churches and religious groups. The respective public statutory law shall develop and detail the following provisions:

● Churches and religious groups shall have a legal status as religious association after the registration procedures. The law shall regulate the religious associations and shall establish the requirements to get registration.

● The government shall not intervene in the internal affairs of the religious associations.

● Mexicans can become ministers of any religious denomination. For this purpose, Mexicans and foreigners must meet the requirements established by law.

● Religious ministers cannot hold public offices, according to the statutory law. As citizens, religious ministers have the right to vote, but they do not have the right to be elected. Those who have ceased being church ministers with the required anticipation and by the procedures established in the law may be elected.

● Church ministers cannot join together for political purposes nor proselytize in favor of certain candidate, party or political association or against them. Neither may they oppose the laws of the Nation or its institutions, nor insult patriotic symbols in any form, in public meetings, in worship or in religious literature.

The formation of any kind of political group with a name containing any word or other symbol related to any religion is strictly prohibited. No meeting of a political character may be held in churches or temples.

The simple promise of truthfulness and fulfillment, subjects the person to the penalties established by law in the event of failing to fulfill them.

The law shall confer powers and duties on civil matters to the federal, state and municipal authorities.

 

Article 134

All contracts made by the authorities and entities mentioned before on acquisitions, renting, transfers, provision of services and works shall be awarded by open tenders, where bidders submit their sealed bids. These sealed bids will be opened in public for scrutiny and to guarantee that the State get the best market conditions available in regard to price, quality, financing, opportunity and other appropriate conditions.

When tender is not appropriate to guarantee the conditions mentioned in the previous paragraph, the law shall establish the bases, procedures, regulations, requirements and other conditions necessary to prove the good price, effectiveness, efficiency, impartiality and honesty of the process for the benefit of the State.

Management of federal economic resources by state governments, municipal governments, the Federal District Government and its political-administrative bodies shall be carried out observing the basis established in this article and the applicable statutory laws. Revision of the use of such resources shall be made by the technical state agencies mentioned in the second paragraph of this article.

Public servants shall be accountable for any violation committed against the provisions established in this article, according to the terms stated in the Title Four of this Constitution.

The public servants working in the federal, state and local governments, as well as the Federal District public servants are always obliged to impartially invest the public resources under their management and not to affect the equity of the competition between political parties.

Propaganda disseminated through any media by the government, the autonomous bodies, the government agencies or any other entity belonging to any of the three levels of government, shall be institutional and shall bring information, education or guiding. Such propaganda cannot include names, images, voices or symbols that imply the personal promotion of a public servant.

The laws shall, within their field, guarantee enforcement of the two previous paragraphs and shall define penalties to be applied to offenders. 

Facts of Mexico's Constitution

Article 2 (Part of it)

The nation is multicultural, based originally on its indigenous peoples, described as descendants of those inhabiting the country before colonization and that preserve their own social, economic, cultural and political institutions, or some of them.

Consciousness of indigenous identity will be the fundamental criteria to determine to whom apply the provisions on indigenous people.

An indigenous community is defined as the community that constitutes a cultural, economic and social unit settled in a territory and that recognizes its own authorities, according to their customs.

Indigenous people’s right to self-determination shall be subjected to the Constitution in order to guarantee national unity. States’ and Federal District’s constitutions and laws must recognize indigenous peoples and communities, taking into account the general principles established in the previous paragraphs, as well as ethnic-linguistic and land settlement criteria.

● This Constitution recognizes and protects the indigenous peoples’ right to self-determination and, consequently, the right to autonomy, so that they can:

● Decide their internal forms of coexistence, as well their social, economic, political and cultural organization.

● Apply their own legal systems to regulate and solve their internal conflicts, subjected to the general principles of this Constitution, respecting the fundamental rights, the human rights and, above all, the dignity and safety of women. The law shall establish the way in which judges and courts will validate the aforementioned regulations.

● Elect, in accordance with their traditional rules, procedures and customs, their authorities or representatives to exercise their own form of internal government, guaranteeing the right to vote and being voted of indigenous women and men under equitable condition; as well as to guarantee the access to public office or elected positions to those citizens that have been elected or designated within a framework that respects the federal pact and the sovereignty of the states. In no case the communitarian practices shall limit the electoral or political rights of the citizens in the election of their municipal authorities.

● Preserve and enrich their languages, knowledge and all the elements that constitute their culture and identity.

● Maintain and improve their environment and lands, according to this Constitution.

● Attain with preferential use of the natural resources of the sites inhabited by their indigenous communities, except for the strategic resources defined by this Constitution. The foregoing rights shall be exercised respecting the forms of property ownership and land possession established in this Constitution and in the laws on the matter as well as respecting third parties’ rights. To achieve these goals, indigenous communities may form partnerships under the terms established by the Law.

● Elect indigenous representatives for the town council in those municipalities with indigenous population.
The constitutions and laws of the States shall recognize and regulate these rights in the municipalities, with the purpose of strengthening indigenous peoples’ participation and political representation, in accordance with their traditions and regulations.

● Have full access to State jurisdiction. In order to protect this right, in all trials and proceedings that involve natives, individually or collectively, their customs and cultural practices must be taken into account, respecting the provisions established in this Constitution. Indigenous people have, at all times, the right to be assisted by interpreters and counsels, who are familiar to their language and culture.

● The constitutions and laws of the States and the Federal District shall establish those elements of self-determination and autonomy that may best express the conditions and aspirations of indigenous peoples in each State, as well as the rules, according to which indigenous communities will be defined as public interest entities.

● In order to promote equal opportunities for indigenous people and to eliminate discriminatory practices, the Federation, the Federal District, the States and the local councils shall establish the necessary institutions and policies to guarantee indigenous people’s rights and comprehensive development of indigenous communities. Such institutions and policies shall be designed and operated together with them.
 In order to eliminate the scarcities and backwardness affecting indigenous towns and communities, authorities are obliged to:

● Stimulate regional development in indigenous areas with the purpose of strengthening local economies and improving the quality of life. To achieve this goal, the three levels of government and the indigenous communities must take part in a coordinated manner. Local governments shall equitably determine the budget that is to be directly managed by the indigenous communities for specific goals.

● Guarantee education and increase educational level of indigenous peoples, favoring bilingual and cross-cultural education, literacy, completion of the elementary and secondary education, technical training, high education and university education. Also, the authorities must establish a scholarship system for indigenous students at all grades, as well as define and carry out regional educational programs, according to indigenous peoples’ cultural heritage and opinion, and according to the law. Authorities must promote respect towards the several cultures of the Nation and knowledge about them.

● Enforce an effective access to health services by increasing the coverage of the national health services, while making good use of traditional medicine and also to improve the indigenous people’s nutrition through food programs focusing especially on children.

● Improve the living conditions of indigenous communities and the spaces used for social activities and recreation through policies that enables the access to public and private financing for housing construction and home improvements, as well as policies that extend the coverage of basic social services.

● Promote indigenous women development by supporting their productive projects, protecting their health, granting incentives for their education and fostering indigenous women participation in decision-making process of their communities.

● Extend the communication infrastructure, enabling integration of communities to the rest of the country, by constructing and expanding transportation routes and telecommunication means. Also, authorities are obliged to develop the conditions required so that indigenous peoples and communities may acquire, operate and manage media, in accordance with the law.

● Support productive activities and sustainable development of indigenous communities through actions that allow them to achieve economic self-sufficiency; granting incentives for public and private investments that create new jobs; the use of new technology to increase productive capacity and to assure equitable access to supply and marketing systems.

● Establish social policies to protect indigenous immigrants both, in Mexican territory and foreign countries, through actions that: assure farm workers’ labor rights, improve women’s health, provide special educational and nutrition programs for children and young people belonging to immigrant families, ensure their human rights are respected and spread indigenous peoples’ culture.

● Consult indigenous peoples’ opinion and recommendations while preparing the National Development Plan, the State plans and the local plans and, if appropriate, incorporate their recommendations and proposals.

● In order to enforce the obligations set forth herein, the House of Representatives, the legislative bodies of the Federal District and the States, as well as the Municipal Councils, within the scope of their jurisdictions, shall establish specific budgets to comply with these obligations, as well as the procedures enabling communities to participate in the exercise and supervision thereof.

 Any community comparable to indigenous peoples shall have the same rights as the indigenous people, according to the law, without detrimental to rights of natives, their communities and peoples established in this Constitution.

 

Article 4 (Part of it)

Every person has the right to decide, in a free, responsible and informed manner, about the number of children desired and the timing between each of them.

 

Article 6 (Part of it)

Expression of ideas shall not be subject to judicial or administrative inquiry, except for those cases when such expression of ideas goes against the moral, privacy or the rights of third parties, causes perpetration of a felony, or disturbs the public order. The right of reply shall be exercised according to law. The State shall guarantee the right to information.

 

Article 10

The inhabitants of the United Mexican States have the right to keep arms at home, for their protection and legitimate defense, with the exception of those prohibited by the Federal Law and those reserved for the exclusive use of the Army, Navy, Air Force and National Guard. Federal Law will state the cases, conditions, requirements and places where inhabitants can be authorized to carry weapons.