Lawrence Publishing Company

Mexican Legal Materials and Cuban Legal Materials

Lawrence Publishing Company's Most Current Editions of Latin American and Spanish Codes and other Materials
Ordering Information
Mexican Legal Materials and Cuban Legal Materials
Legal Materials from Various Latin American Republics, Puerto Rico, and Spain
Spanish-English/English-Spanish Legal Terminology

 

The Commercial Code of Mexico and the Commercial Companies Act of Mexico

(3rd Edition, 2021)

An English translation with an Introduction and Indices, by Julio Romañach, Jr.

isbn-13 (978-1-4004-0057-7) at US$240.00 per copy + US$20.00 Shipping & Handling per copy (USA destination)

Published 2021, Paperbound 8 1/2 x 11 inches, 381 pages

  This updated third edition provices English translations of four separate Mexican commercial acts:  The Commercial Code of Mexico, the Commercial Companies Act or the business associations law of Mexico, the Commercial Bankruptcy Law of Mexico, and the Foreign Investment Law of Mexico.    The Commercial Code contains basic principles of commercial law applicable throughout the Mexican Republic including contract formation, commercial sales, and many others.  The Code contains both substantive and procedural rules.  In fact, the procedural rules constitute a veritable procedural code with specialized rules for commercial lawsuits, as well as extensive rules on arbitration.  The Commercial Code has been amended in recent years to provide rules governing electronic commerce and recordation of commercial acts in Mexico.  The Commercial Companies Act is federal law and, as such, is applicable throughout the Mexican federation.  The law provides general principles applicable throughout the act and enumerates the various forms of private business associations including general partnerships, partnerships in commendam, limited liability companies, corporations, in commendam companies by shares, cooperative assocations, simplified companies by shares, and the variable capital company.  The law also provides extensive rules on mergers, transformation, and splits; dissolution of companies; and liquidation of companies.  The third edition of this publication has been expanded considerably by the addition of two very significant statutes:  the Commercial Bankruptcy Act and the Foreign Investment Law.  The Commercial Bankruptcy Law (Ley de Concursos Mercantiles) was published in the Official Journal of the Federation on May 12, 2000, and has been amended by the Mexican Congress from time-to-time; the last amendment, as reflected in official sources, dates from January 22, 2020.  This statute, which governs the bankruptcy of commercial enterprises, consists of three hundred and forty-two articles divided into fourteen titles.  Article 1 declares the fundamental policy goal of the statute to be the "preservation of commercial enterprises and the avoidance of ... generalized default of payment obligations...".  These policy goals are declared to be "matters of public interest".  Accordingly, throughout the statute there is an emphasis on reorganization of commercial enterprises, if at all possible, rather than liquidating them and selling their assets to pay the creditors.  The statute is divided into two fundamental stages:  1) Conciliation, during which an attempt is made to preserve the commercial enterprise through reorganization, and 2) Liquidation, for cases in which reorganization is simply not feasible.  The Foreign Investment Law provides basic requirements and guidelines for investment in the Mexican Republic by natural persons and business enterprises.

DICTIONARY OF MEXICAN LAW
2nd Edition 
By: Julio Romañach, Jr., ATTORNEY AT LAW
Admitted to the Louisiana and Florida Bars
isbn-13 (978-1-4004-0045-4) Published 2019
Paperbound, 8 1/2 x 11 inches, 481 pages
US$240.00 per copy + $20.00 S/H 
      The Dictionary of Mexican Law, by Julio Romañach, Jr.  contains definitions covering a broad spectrum of Mexican law including — civil law and commercial law (reflected not only in the federal and representative state civil codes, but also in significant codes and statutes embodying federal commercial law, such as the commercial code, the general law of negotiable instruments and credit transactions [ley general de títulos y operaciones de crédito], the contract of insurance law [ley sobre el contrato de seguro], the maritime navigation and commerce law [ley de la navegación y comercio marítimos], the general law of commercial companies [ley general de sociedades mercantiles] and other statutes), family law, torts, corporate law, procedural law (including the recently enacted federal class action law [acciones colectivas]),  constitutional law, and criminal law among others.  The second edition is a revised, updated and expanded version of the original edition published in 2012.  The Mexican Federal Congress has been particularly active in amending federal law in several important areas.  These areas include revisions to the Federal Constitution and to the following federal codes and statutes, among others:  The Federal Civil Code; the Commercial Code; the Commercial Companies Act or General Law of Commercial Companies; the Federal Labor Law; the Federal Insurance Law; the Maritime Navigation and Commerce Law; the Civil Aviation Law; and the Federal Bankruptcy Law.  In addition, the Federal Congress has enacted several extremely important new codes and statutes, among which are:  the National Code of Crimninal Procedure (2014); the Oil and Gas Law (2014); and the Federal law of Environmental Liability (2013).
     While the legal terms included in the Dictionary of Mexican Law are set forth in the Spanish original, all definitions of these terms are written in the English language. Most definitions are derived from and cite to primary sources.  The definitions purport to provide an exposition of the meaning of a particular term or phrase in Mexican law, with legislative context in many instances.  The author translated many Mexican legislative enactments into English while writing this dictionary and included significant excerpts from those translations, as well as excerpts from his previously published English translations of the Federal Civil Code [Federal Civil Code of Mexico, An English translation with an Introduction and Index by Julio Romañach, Jr.] and the Commercial Code [Commercial Code of Mexico:  Selected Substantive Provisions, An English translation with an Introduction and Index by Julio Romañach, Jr.] to provide that legislative context.  In view of the importance to lawyers in the USA of the Mexican states bordering the USA territorial boundaries, the bulk of the terms in family law often cite to codes from representative Mexican border states. 

     No prior knowledge of the Spanish language or any familiarity with Mexican legal terminology is needed to use this dictionary because it includes an English Language Index to Mexican Legal Terms, arranged in alphabetical order, which points the user to relevant Mexican legal entries in Spanish (with their accompanying legal definitions in English) located in this dictionary.
     The Dictionary of Mexican Law is designed primarily for American legal professionals who, in their practice, encounter Mexican legal terms and concepts in contracts, wills, government documents and other legal instruments; or who encounter such terms or concepts in legal negotiations or in the course of litigation; or who have an interest in Mexican law and legal culture.  In addition, the extensive citations to relevant Mexican codes and statutes in the legal definitions of this dictionary provide the American practitioner with a broader general understanding of the Mexican legal system’s primary sources of the law. Moreover, a greater understanding of Mexican law facilitates communication with foreign counsel; enhances the American legal professional’s use of his own analytical skills to spot issues; and helps minimize erroneous assumptions by the American legal professional. 

FEDERAL CIVIL CODE OF MEXICO
(English Translation) 

2nd  Edition 2021

An English translation with an introduction and index

by Julio Romañach, Jr.
isbn-13 (978-1-4004-0056-0) 
US$240.00 per copy + $20.00 s/h
Paperbound, 8 1/2 x 11 inches, 389pages
                      
     The Federal Civil Code is the backbone of the Mexican civil law system.  While all thirty-one states, as well as teh Federal District (Mexico City) have civil codes of their own, the Federal Civil Code is by far the most important one.  That is so, for the following reasons:  1) It is directly applicable in federal matters throughout the entire republic (See Article 1); 2) Since commercial law is federal law in Mexico, the Federal Civil Code provides rules of decision in all commercial cases in which the Commercial Code makes a remission to the Civil Code, as well as serving as a source of supplementary commercial law for areas not covered by the Civil Code; 3) It is an essential source of gap fillers in all cases involving application of federal law, both commercial and non-commercial; 4) It has served as a model for most state civil codes, as well as the Civil Code for the Federal District (Mexico City) which until the year 2000 was directly under the aegis of this Code. 
The second edition of the Federal Civil Code of Mexico is a revised and updated  of the original translation of this Code.  It contains all legislative updates to codal provisions approved by the Mexican Congress as of August 15, 2021 as reflected in official sources.  This edition also contains editorial notes prepared by the translator and editor, Julio Romanach, jr., concentrating on recent legal developments in the law of the Mexican Republic, including same-sex marriage.  In addition, this second edition contains legislative references to codal articles.  The Federal Civil Code of Mexico remains one of the most significant bodies of law ever enacted in any jurisdiction.  The Mexican Congress has approved revisions from time-to-time, allowing the Federal Civil Code to remain a beacon of light and justice, as well as a practical tool for the attorney seeking solutions to problems in which Mexican law provides the rule of decision.  It covers very broad areas, including:  property, contracts, obligations, sales, leases, agency, civil partnerships, successions, donations, and many others.   
 

 Family, Matrimonial Property, and Homestead Laws of Selected Mexican States and
the Federal District (Mexico City) 
By:  Julio Romañach, Jr.
Published 2021
isbn-13 (978-1-4004-0058-4) 
US$240.00 per copy + $20.00 s/h
Paperbound, 8 1/2 x 11 inches, 270 pages
 
This work contains the bulk of the family, matrimonial property, and homestead laws of three very significant Mexican jurisdictions:  1) the Federal District (Mexico City); 2) the state of Nuevo Leon; and 3) the state of Tamaulipas.  The family laws contain the rules for contracting marriage; the rules governing the rights and obligations of the spouses and of persons united in concubinage; rules relative to custody and support, both spousal as well as child support; the law of divorce; and various other family law matters. 
The matrimonial property law sets forth the rules governing property aspects of married persons, and persons united in concubinage, concentrating on two basic matrimonial property regimes:  the "conjugal partnership", which is, fundamentally, a community property system, and the separation of property matrimonial regime.  All three jurisdictions give considerable latitude to the spouses or concubinaries regarding their property arrangement, generally allowing the principle of freedom of contract to prevail.  
In a manner comparable to the homestead laws of various states of the United States of America, the homestead laws of the various Mexican jurisdictions seek to protect the homeowner's dwelling from attachment by creditors, but only up to a certain statutorily defined amount.  The rules are different in each jurisdiction, but they all share the general theme of protecting the homeowner and a number of defined beneficiaries.  The question of whether the establishment of a homestead effects a transfer of title to the property involved to the beneficiaries, likewise, is not answered in the same manner by all the jurisdictions involved. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mexican Law of Sales: A Primer
By:  Julio Romañach, Jr.
Published 1997
Paperbound 6 x 9"  186 pages
isbn:0-9633610-3-1
US$75.00 + s/h
This work examines the Mexican Law of Sales
in a systematic manner, following a topical approach. 
 Chapter I.
General Principles
 Chapter II.
Of the Subject Matter of the Contract of Sale
 Chapter III.
Transfer of Ownership and Risk
 Chapter IV.
 Of Persons Capable of Buying and Selling
 Chapter V.
Of the Obligations of the Seller
 Chapter VI.
Of the Obligations of the Buyer
 Chapter VII.
Assignment of Rights; Exchange
 Chapter VIIl.
Agreements Preparatory to the Sale; Aleatory Sales; Sales with Reservation of Ownership (Conditional Sales); Miscellaneous Provisions
 


 

(2nd Edition 2023) Cuban Civil, Commercial and Public Laws in English Translation in four volumes by Julio Romañach, Jr.  Volume One, Cuban Civil Laws and the Dictionary of Cuban Civil and Commercial Law includes:  English translations of the Cuban Civil Code of 1987 (current civil code with legislative updates); the new Cuban Family Code of 2022 and the prior Cuban Family Code of 1975; and a Dictionary of Cuban Civil and Commercial Law, authored by Julio Romañach, JrVolume Two, Cuban Commercial Laws includes: English translations of the Cuban Commercial Code; the Cuban Commercial Registry Law of 2001; the new Cuban Limited Liability Companies Law of 2021; Cuba's Fideicommissum (or trust) as Security Law of 2020; the Cuban International Commercial Arbitration Law of 2007 and its Rules of Procedure approved in 2018; the Cuban Navigation Law of 2013; the Cuban Negotiable Instruments Law of 2016; the Law of Economic Contracting of 2012 and the Kinds of Contracts Law of 2012.  Volume Three, Cuban Public Law & Private International Law includes: English translations of  the Bustamante Code of Private International Law; the Cuban Foreign Investment Law and Regulations thereto of 2014; the Sole Portal or Gateway for Foreign Investment of 2020; the Cuban Labor Code and Regulations thereto of 2014; the Self-Employment Law of 2021; the Law of Expropriation for Reasons of Public Utility or Social Interest in effect since May 29, 2023; the Cuban Constitution of 2019; the Cuban Constitution of 1976 and the Cuban Constitution of 1940; Volume Four, the Mortgage Law, The Registry Laws and the Civil Code of 1889 includes: the Cuban Mortgage Law; the Cuban Law of the System of Public Registries of 2015; Selected property registry provisions of the General Dwelling Law; selected provisions of the Ministry of Justice Resolution of 2007 addressing norms and procedures for the Organization and Operations of the Public Registry;  and the Cuban Civil Code of 1889 with changes approved by the government of Cuba betwen May 20, 1902 and January 1, 1959.
The price for this set (one copy of each of the four volumes) is US$800.00 (which includes shipping & handling), when the four-volume set is purchased for shipment to one destination in the USA. The isbn-13  for the 4-volume set  is (978-1-4004-0066-9).  Volume One, Paperbound 8 1/2 x 11 inches, 421 pages; Volume Two, Paperbound 8 1/2 x 11 inches, 388 pages; Volume Three, Paperbound 8 1/2 x 11 inches, 426 pages; Volume Four, Paperbound 8 1/2 x 11 inches, 386 pages.