The Moral Clause in Patent Law and Threats Posed by Human Germl ine Genome Editing

This article examines whether the lack of closure of moral clauses in patent laws, particularly in dealing with the issue of human germline genome editing, causes such clauses to fail to function as a moratorium in countries like Mexico. The hypothesis posed here is that a general, open, moral clause in intellectual property legislation, specifically in patent law, is ineffective when confronted with a foreseeable but strong innovation that alters an area of applied biology such as human germline genome editing. Using the deductive method, this research aims to determine whether countries like Mexico need to provide more specific guidance in their legislation on technological innovations like human germline modification in order to foster an atmosphere of legal certainty. A comparative analysis of the closed morals clause in the European Patent Convention and the open morals clause in Mexico’s intellectual property law confirms this hypothesis. Specifically, the lack of closure of a morals clause in patent law, when confronted with novel and complex technological advances, will likely fail to function as a moratorium.

Retrogression of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Mexico in the Context of Austerity and Crisis

Mexico is facing a time of change in the allocation and distribution of public funds due to what the Mexican government has called “republican austerity”. Such change has caused public discordance since it is said to be regressive to human rights. The first article of the Mexican Constitution explicitly states the obligation of all authorities, within the scope of their powers, to promote, respect, protect and guarantee human rights in accordance with the principles of universality, interdependence, indivisibility, and progressivity. Also, Mexico is a member state of international covenants on human rights, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, from which some obligations derive. One of these obligations is the progressive realization of economic, social, cultural rights, and the prohibition of retrogression. Even though, limited economic resources require the careful allocation and redistribution of public spending, a practice that has led to the reduced allocation of public resources for some programs considered essential in the acquisition of human rights. The shift in the allocation of public spending in Mexico may ultimately deepen in the coming months and couple years, because of the imminent economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This article analyses the extent to which the Mexican government can, based on austerity, redistribution, or economic crises, make decisions that imply retrogression of rights without violating the obligation to progressive fulfillment stated in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

An Invitation to Mexican Courts to Engage with Transnational Sources of Law

In 2009, Mexican Courts started to engage in a transnational conversation between foreign courts. After Mexico was sentenced by the Inter- American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) in the case of Radilla Pacheco, the Mexican Supreme Court determined, among other things, that all national judges must examine the human rights interpretations issued by the Federal Judiciary and the IACHR, choosing the most favorable and effective interpretation to protect human rights, applying the pro homine principle. Nonetheless, nothing has been said about using case law from foreign courts as persuasive authority to find this “most favorable and effective interpretation of human rights” in Mexico. This article analyses whether Mexican courts should take into account the interpretations of foreign courts as persuasive authority when determining standards and scope of human rights, besides IACHR case law. I evaluate different theories that support the use and citation of foreign precedents, as well as arguments that raise concerns about citing foreign courts to interpret domestic legal frameworks. I conclude that, in order to make use of the most effective principles and standards of human rights, as the pro persona principle suggest, Mexican Courts should consider foreign case law.

Mexican Notary Publics in the Fight Against Money Laundering

main task of the Mexican notary is to provide, at the request of individuals, certainty and security to legal acts and facts through the exercise of public trust, which is characterized by the specialization of its function and the expertise required to perform the activity. However, in modern times, its obligations have been expanded to include assisting national and international authorities in the fight against the crime of money laundering and its provenance, such as drug trafficking, extortion, theft, corruption, embezzlement, tax and investment fraud, terrorism and its financing, among others. Therefore, the main objective of this note is to analyze the mandatory burden on notaries within the national legal framework, which has been established in accordance with globally imposed demands to combat the perpetration of such illegal behaviors. Similarly, the possible penalties that may apply in the event of non-compliance with the applicable provisions shall be examined from a critical and theoretical perspective. The research problem is addressed from a dogmatic and formalist methodology consistent with the subject of study, providing an explanation based on the factual, regulatory, and axiological dimensions.

Evidence-Based Laws and the Administrative Capacity to Generate Information for the Legislative Process

Traditionally, the legislative practice has been described from the moment the bills enter the Assemblies or Parliaments until they are promulgated into law, but there is a lot of opacity regarding what the doctrine knows about the previous moment, that is, the pre-legislative procedures, which finally determine the way in which a problem will be approached legislatively, the content that these texts will develop and who has influenced the strategy deployed. This note seeks to make visible certain practices within the administration that allow understanding which is the starting point of a bill, how the knowledge of the administration members is structured and some of its problems, which are the sources of information for the elaboration of diagnoses, what should be the previous steps for the creation of a regulation and the existence of an institutionality that gives certainty, who influences the drafting of a legal text, what have some Latin American countries done to advance on this issue and how an evidence-based bill should be structured so that its result is close to the optimum expected in terms of legal effectiveness and transparency and accountability to citizens. Finally, this note concludes on the benefits derived from the strengthening of administrative capacity that allow generating, structuring and articulating technical, impartial and transparent information to promote evidence-based laws whose follow-up and evaluation allow assess their ex post effectiveness.

Femicides: Different Approaches from the Regional Protection of Human Rights

Since the adoption of the term femicide for gender-based killings of women, the theoretical development and transition of this definition to a legal concept has contributed to the acknowledgment of this phenomenon as the most extreme manifestation of violence against women. In the international sphere, the regional systems of protection of human rights appear as fertile soil for victims of femicide to claim protection. Consequently, the European Court, Inter-American, and the ECOWAS Court of human rights play an important role in the investigation, prosecution, and reparation of femicide in their regions. Nevertheless, through their jurisprudence in the matter, regional courts of human rights have adopted different approaches for femicide. This shows striking differences in the recognition of the phenomenon of femicide, the development of State obligations, and the reparation for victims. The minimalistic approach applied by the European Court in its cases, as well as a single precedent of feminicide studied by the ECOWAS Court, makes us turn the view to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Based on its maximalist approach, the Inter-American Court has gone beyond its sister courts to establish a consolidated recognition of the phenomenon of femicide, and to develop in a wider and deeper way the scope of State obligations and reparations on femicide cases.

Torture, Mistreatment, and Forced Confessions in Mexico’s Accusatorial Criminal Justice System

This article examines the impact of Mexico’s 2008 criminal justice reform on the practice of utilizing torture and mistreatment to extract criminal confessions. Complaint data submitted to the National Commission on Human Rights (Comisión Nacional de Derecho Humanos, CNDH) and detainee survey data compiled by the National Institute for Statistics and Geography (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía, INEGI) were employed to assess if the use of torture and mistreatment by judicial sector operators had decreased (1) in states with advanced levels of reform implementation and (2) in judicial districts that had already implemented the reform. The author also examined the incidence of forced confessions before and after the reform’s implementation at the judicial district level. The author hypothesized that decreases in torture, mistreatment, and forced confessions would be observed in each of these cases. Basic correlation and regression tests were employed to assess the geographic hypothesis, while two chi-square tests for independence were used for judicial district data. The results of these analyses demonstrate evidence rejecting the null hypothesis in each instance, suggesting that the reform can indeed be credited for small but meaningful reductions in torture, mistreatment, and forced confessions in Mexico. The author argues that reforms must be accompanied by further action to address the pervasive use of torture and mistreatment in Mexico.

Permanent Economic Emergency in Argentina and its Constitutional Implications

There is broad consensus among legal scholars about the existence of a permanent economic emergency in Argentina. This article examines the origin of the doctrine of economic emergency and its evolution in the Argentine Supreme Court of Justice decisions. Various regulatory devices implemented to face the economic crises are analyzed, and it is emphasized that the declaration of a state of emergency has not been made only by means of Congress formal legislation, but through the legislative powers of the President. The requirements for the validity of regulations of emergency are set forth in this article, including the actual existence of a state of emergency, a public interest, that the measure be reasonable, and the provisional nature of the emergency. Considering that courts have not exerted proper judicial review over the regulations of emergency, guideli¬nes to implement adequate judicial review over the subject at issue are presented. It is stated that the declaration of economic emergency and the factual circumstances underlying such declaration is a question subject to judicial review. In exercising the judicial review about this issue, two dimensions may be considered. First, timing, and, second, the correlation that must exist between a regulation —law, legislative delegation, or a decree of necessity and urgency— and the emergency situation it is intended to fight against. Finally, specific features of judicial review depending on the type of regulation that has declared the emergency are studied.