Procedural Prerequisites and Jurisdictional Competence

The Personality and Legitimization of Parties

  • Personality (Personalidad):

    • Etymological Origin: The term stems from the Latin words "personalitas" and "personalitis," which refer to the collection of qualities that constitute an individual.
    • Legal Meaning: In a juridical context, personality maintains three distinct meanings:
      1. It is the quality of a person by which they are considered a center of imputation for legal norms, effectively defining them as a subject of rights and obligations.
      2. It represents the conceptual link that binds a person to their specific attributes.
      3. It serves as the connection allowing for the distinction between a natural person (persona física) and a moral or legal entity (persona moral), as well as the recognition of these entities within legal relationships.

  • Legitimization (Legitimación):

    • Definition: This refers to the specific legal condition of a person in relation to the right they are invoking in a trial. This status may be based on their ownership (titularidad) of the right or other circumstances that justify their claim.
    • Secondary Definition: It is described as the aptitude or suitability (idoneidad) to act within a legal process, either through the exercise of one's own right or while representing another person.
    • Functional Nature: It is an aptitude to generate acts with a specific object, resulting from the relationship the party maintains with said object.

Concurrent Jurisdiction

  • Definition of Jurisdiction: Eduardo J. Couture defines jurisdiction as: "the public function performed by the competent organs of the State with the forms required by law, by virtue of which, through an act of judgment, the rights of the parties are determined with the objective of settling their conflicts and controversies of legal relevance through decisions with the authority of res judicata (cosa juzgada), which are eventually feasible for execution."
  • The Neccesity of Jurisdiction: A State is inconceivable without jurisdiction. The absence of a power capable of subjecting conflicting parties to a resolution would lead to social decomposition.
  • Concurrent Jurisdiction (Jurisdicción Concurrente):
    • This occurs when both federal and state (local) authorities have the faculty to act within a specific matter.
    • This is an exception to general rules and occurs only when there is an express text within the CPEUM (Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos) that explicitly mandates it.

The Chosen Path: Via Ordinaria and Via Especial

  • General Concept: The "via" is the scheme for exercising jurisdictional power—the specific form or path through which a legal process develops.
  • Ordinary Path (Via Ordinaria):
    • A process through which jurisdictional organs handle all claims without any specific limitation.
    • It is designed to vent or resolve claims of any nature.
  • Special or Privileged Path (Via Especial o Privilegiada):
    • These are processes with special procedures distinct from ordinary trials.
    • They are established to address claims that involve specific and determined objects.
    • These are considered ad hoc processes tailored to specific claims, and their usage is strictly limited to what is explicitly marked by law.

Competence and its Classifications

  • Broad Definition: Competence refers to the scope, sphere, or field within which an organ of authority can validly perform its functions or attributions.
  • Constitutional Basis: Competence finds its legal origin in Article 16 of the CPEUM.
  • Classes of Competence:
    • By Matter (Por materia): The organ is determined based on the subject matter of the case (e.g., Penal, Civil, Commercial). This arises from the complexity of specialization, creating a division of jurisdictional labor.
    • By Degree (Por grado): This presupposes the different steps or instances of the process and involves the hierarchical division of jurisdictional organs.
    • By Territory (Por territorio): This addresses geographic considerations. Each region has its own judicial organization based on its physical location (e.g., by District).
    • By Amount (Por cuantía): This is determined based on the economic interests at stake or the monetary value debated within the process.

Procedural Methods for Competence Conflicts

  • Article 1114 of the C.C. (Código de Comercio) stipulates that questions of competence are handled via declinatory or inhibitory paths.
  • Declinatory Path (Declinatoria): A procedure presented as a preliminary exception (excepción previa) where the judge is asked to stop hearing the case because they are believed to lack competence.
  • Inhibitory Path (Inhibidora): This involves issuing an order to a judge instructing them to abstain from hearing or starting a process, and to remit the case file and any practiced proceedings to the tribunal deemed competent.

Submission to Competence under Article 1092 and 1094

  • General Rule (Article 1092): The competent judge is the one to whom the litigants have submitted themselves, either expressly or tacitly.
  • Express Submission: The parties agree to resolve their dispute before a particular judge. This is done by both parties appearing through a prior written statement to explicitly manifest their will.
  • Tacit Submission (Sometimiento Tácito): As detailed in Article 1094 of the C.C., tacit submission occurs through the following actions:
    1. The plaintiff, by the act of going to the judge to file their lawsuit, not only for exercising their action but also for answering the counterclaim (reconvención) opposed against them.
    2. The defendant, by answering the lawsuit or by filing a counterclaim against the plaintiff.
    3. The defendant, by failing to interpose exceptions of incompetence within the corresponding legal terms established for the trial; in this case, submission is assumed toward the judge who served the summons (emplazó).
    4. Anyone who, having promoted a competence challenge, subsequently withdraws from it.
    5. The third-party opponent (tercer opositor) and anyone who comes into the trial for any reason due to an incident.
    6. The person who is called to trial so that the sentence may affect them (prejuicio), and who holds the status of a party. They may offer evidence, make arguments, and interpose all classes of defenses and resources; if they do not raise a question of competence within the corresponding legal deadlines, they are submitted to the judge.