Introduction
Mexico has faced corruption over the years. The rampant corruption in the country has prevailed due to the lack of political will of the government and its institutions. Since the colonial era, the country has had laws in place to deter corruption and punishment mechanism for those involved in the acts. The legal framework includes administrative laws and domestic bribery legal framework, as will be discussed in this article.
Legal System
Administrative Law
Administrative laws in Mexico are established to maintain internal control of various institutions. In April 2003, the laws on professional career service in federal public administration were approved. In June of the same year, Mexico approved the Federal Anticorruption law in public contracts based on international conventions. The first paragraph of article 108 of the constitution defines public servants as: Elected representatives, members of the Federal Judiciary and the Mexico city Judiciary, officials and employees, and anyone holding office or commission in the Federal public administration of Mexico (Márquez,2015). The definition of public employees is meant to hold these officials accountable for their commissions and omissions.
Bribery of Domestic Officials
Article 109 refers to the types of offences that are termed as corrupt among public officials. The General Law of Administrative Responsibilities (GLAR) majorly targets domestic bribery, including that of public officials and the private entities involved. The GLAR prohibits public servants from indirectly or directly receiving or soliciting any benefits outside their salary parameters (The anti-bribery and anti-corruption review,2021). These include money, property, real estate, securities, services, donations, and employment of any kind for their duties. The officials and legal entities are also barred from indirectly or directly promising, giving, or offering gifts for benefits of omissions or acts of any official functions. These entities are also barred from exercising any control over public officials to influence their decisions and actions for the purpose of securing any advantages.
Gifts, Travel, Meals, and Gratuities.
Mexican government officials, their spouses, individuals, relatives, and entities are prohibited by law from soliciting, attempting to receive or receiving, and accepting gifts for their official positions (The anti-bribery and anti-corruption review,2021). The sources of the gifts prohibited include any entity by which the government has obtained services in the past. The law applies to government officials and all the bodies they run, whether public or private. The gifts received should be reported and handed to relevant authorities. The GLAR also sanctions any collusions of private entities or any agreement between competing parties of public procurement to cause a loss in the Mexican treasury or obtain illegal benefits. The law also prohibits public officials from taking part in commercial activities if they present a conflict of interest (Fonseca,2019). The Mexican law, Article 33, also prohibits public officials from receiving gifts or donations from foreign sources. The government forbids foreign influence on its politics.
The Federal Law on Administrative responsibilities of public servants, at the Federal level, which is regulated by Title IV of the constitution, outlines the obligations of all public servants. It is divided into four sections: General provisions, administrative responsibilities section, the registry of assets declared by public servants and the fourth section deals with prevention of actions. The law also regulates public servants after they have left office. For example, court magistrates are prohibited from exercising any influence on those who took their positions (Márquez,2015). In 2017, the Federal law of administrative responsibilities was replaced by the new general law on administrative accountability (Mexico enacts new anti-corruption laws, 2016). However, the provision of the two laws is similar. The bodies tasked with enforcing the law are the Federal Judicial courts, The ministry of public administration, congress and the Federal tax and court.
Domestic Bribery Legal Framework
Amended Criminal Code
In 2016, the Federal Congress passed an amendment to the Mexican criminal code to exact direct influence on corporate offences. Therefore, legal entities under this law commit crimes when corruption is committed under their name for them or their benefit. Also, the entities are responsible for a crime when it is deemed that they did not have proper controls leading to the crime (The anti-bribery and anti-corruption review, 2021)
Punishment Design
The law has established parameters for crime and corruption and subsequent legal actions against the crimes. The Mexican criminal federal code establishes penalties for both private and public officials. These include 14 years imprisonment, a fine, removal from office, and prohibition of up to 20 years against holding public office for participating in corruption. The Mexican Administrative law also provides several penalties against offenders. First, public officials may face suspension of up to 90 days from their office, whereby a subsequent removal may occur (The anti-bribery and anti-corruption review,2021). The official may also face debarment from holding public office for up to 20 years. This include prohibition from taking part in any public procurement. The Federal administrative law also provides sanctions by double disgorgement. The sanctions, on evidence of tangible benefits, may include a fine of up to US$670 000 or US$6 million, up to 10 years debarment from [articipating in public procurement processes, and dissolution or suspension of the entity.
However, by law, sanctions may be lowered for private entities if they take part in voluntary disclosure of violations or potential corruption. According to Article 16 of the Administrative law, goods may be seized on suspicion of corruption. The comptroller or any head of an area of accountability has the power to confiscate assets when a suspect of corrupt deals disappears, or there is suspicion of the imminent possibility of concealment, disposal, or squandering. Finally, any violation of the General Law of Administrative Accountability may attract actions such as a fine of up to two times the obtained benefits, liquefication of a company, and a requirement that a company indemnifies government agencies.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Mexican law against corruption provides the do and dot with clear definitions of the parameter. In recent developments, the law has clarified matters such as pertaining complaints and allegations against former or current public officials presented with data and evidence. Formerly, the Federal law of responsibilities of public servants (1982) only provided a regulation for the grievances with no need for accompanying evidence and data.
References
Fonseca, R. C. (2019). Mexico’s National Anti-Corruption System. The University of Miami Inter-American Law Review, 50(2), 85-121.
Márquez, D. (2015). Mexican administrative law against corruption: scope and future. Mexican law review, 8, 75-100.
Mexico enacts new anti-corruption laws. (2016 June). Retrieved from https://www.jonesday.com/en/insights/2016/07/mexico-enacts-new-anti-corruption-laws
The anti-bribery and anti-corruption review. (2021). Retrieved from https://thelawreviews.co.uk/title/the-anti-bribery-and-anti-corruption-review/mexico
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