Law Firm Secures Amparo Against Mining Law Reform

Law firm EC Rubio reported a favorable ruling to one of its legal challenges against the Mining Law reform, published on May 8, 2023, benefitting one of its clients in the mining industry. The ruling holds significance for the broader mining sector, establishing a notable precedent for future amparos against this new provision.

Industry experts have mentioned that the most worrying changes the reform brings are in the process of obtaining new concessions, which will now be granted exclusively through tenders conducted by the Ministry of Economy (SE); the duration of mining concessions, which was reduced from 100 to 80 years; and labeling exploration a state-exclusive activity carried out by the SGM, as reported by MBN. “The model proposed in the Mining Law is not compatible with economic freedom. Labeling exploration as a state-exclusive activity puts the sector at risk since mining starts with exploration. Companies that want to enter Mexico are delaying their investments, waiting for a new political scenario or looking at other countries,” said Gabriel Ruiz, CEO, CEO Strategos, in an interview with MBN. 

On Oct. 18, 2023, MBN reported that, to protect the continuity of their operations, mining companies have filed over 500 amparos. One of these companies was EC Rubio. The company informed its team conformed by Pablo Méndez, Managing Partner, and César Olguín, Partner, arguing a series of violations in the legislative process when formulating the law, which led it to be labeled unconstitutional. “This outcome establishes a precedent that we believe may be replicated in the remaining lawsuits filed against the amendments and currently being processed before the federal courts,” the firm said in a press release.

Amid these legal challenges, Méndez had previously highlighted significant arguments against the Mining Law reform in an article written for MBN. For instance, one of these arguments concerned the continuation of "semi-face-to-face" sessions, which were initially implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as the pandemic had already subsided, there seemed to be no valid reason to persist with this measure. Furthermore, the discussion of the final draft was not published in the Chamber of Representatives’ official Gazette, raising concerns regarding uninformed votes from representatives.

Among other arguments provided were the attendance and voting of individuals who lacked the legal authority to attend the session, along with the retroactive application of certain provisions of the law.

At the time of writing, the law firm has not disclosed the specific company that was granted the amparo. However, they have made a commitment to provide updates on any other outcomes resulting from the amparos the firm has filed for other companies. “These actions confirm our commitment to continue protecting the interests of the mining industry,” the firm concluded. 

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