Originally from Enforcement of Money Judgments

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I. PRESENT ATTITUDE TOWARD ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN MONEY JUDGMENTS

A. Describe the receptiveness of your government (including courts) toward enforcement of foreign money judgments.

Traditionally, the Mexican government has been very receptive towards enforcement of foreign money judgments as confirmed recently by the fact that Mexico became the first Party to the 2005 Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements (the Hague Convention), being already a Party to the Inter-American Convention on Jurisdiction in the International Sphere for the Extraterritorial Efficacy of Foreign Court Judgments (the Inter-American Convention), and a Bilateral Treaty with the Kingdom of Spain for the Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Court Judgments and Arbitral Awards on Civil and Commercial Matters.  

B. Briefly describe recent illustrative attempts, whether successful or unsuccessful, to enforce a foreign money judgment in your country, particularly with regard to enforcement of any judgments from United States courts.

Given the long existence and diversity of commercial relationships between Mexicans and their American counterparts, most applications for recognition and enforcement of foreign money judgments filed in Mexican courts originate precisely from the United States. There are however no reported decisions revealing the underlying facts and outcome of those applications, thus making it impossible to ascertain their success rate in federal and state courts throughout the Mexican Republic.      

C. Describe any proposed legislation or other governmental action in your country that could significantly affect the enforcement of foreign money judgments.

As stated above, Mexico is already Party to the ground-breaking Hague Convention, and is waiting for the US (or any other signatory State) to enact implementing legislation so that the Convention may come into effect. It is expected that the Hague Convention’s modern legal framework will facilitate the enforcement in Mexico of money judgments resulting from choice of court agreements embodied in commercial contracts providing for exclusive jurisdiction of US courts.