Originally from World Arbitration And Mediation Review (WAMR)

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RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF

FOREIGN ARBITRAL AWARDS IN MEXICO:
AN UPDATE1
Efrén C. Olivares

In early 2011, the Mexican Congress amended the Mexican
Commercial Code, including provisions of the Mexican Law on
Commercial Arbitration (“MLCA”).2 Specifically, Commercial Code
Articles 1460 and 1463 (¶ 2) were derogated, and Articles 1464
to 1480 were added.

I. REFORMS RELATED TO AWARD ENFORCEMENT

By derogating article 1460 and the second paragraph of article
1463 of the MLCA, the Mexican Congress deleted provisions
specifying that proceedings to set aside an arbitral award (article
1460) and to enforce an arbitral award (article 1463, paragraph
2) should be conducted in accordance with the summary process
in article 360 of the Mexican Code of Civil Procedure.

The reforms establish a new arbitration-specific summary
proceeding for enforcement actions. First, new article 1471
provides that an exequatur process is not required to enforce an
award under the MLCA. Then, articles 1472 to 1475 contain a
“special proceeding” for award enforcement: the responding
party has fifteen days to file an answer from the date the action is
filed (article 1473); a hearing on the matter is to be held within
three days of the filing of the answer if no evidence is presented
(article 1474), or within ten days if evidence is presented or
requested by the court (article 1475); and the decision on
enforcement is not subject to appeal (article 1476).