confusion is great, and a revised code is needed to eliminate the mass of odd, feudal, and mediæval hasty and contradictory enactments. Those concerning the administration of justice rest on the decree of October 9, 1812, though subjected to many changes, especially after 1857. The special privileges under the fuero tribunals of the clergy, army, and guilds are abolished yet the custom thus inculcated has done some good in promoting arbitration methods. There is no imprisonment for civil debt, and no detention as prisoner beyond three days, without justifiable proofs, to which end the amparo law[1] may be invoked; yet numbers languish in waiting for delayed trials. Counsel is provided for those in need thereof. Criminal cases are limited to three instances, and a defective jury system extends only to certain cases.[2] State codes differ greatly.
The present form of tribunals does not vary much from that ordained by the constitution of 1824. There are three grades of federal courts, suprem[e], circuit, and district, with original jurisdiction in affairs of state, and as courts of appeal or final instance. The eleven supreme judges arc elected for six years[3] There are eight circuit courts,[4] and one district court
- ↑ Introducing writ of protection and suspension of protested acts, of greater scope than the habeas corpus act.
- ↑ It was not established until some time after the federal constitution, and met with a temporary check in the sixth decade. For decrees concerning, see Rivera, Hist. Jal., iv. 690-1; Dublan y Lozano, Leg. Mex., x. 525, 537-43, 658–65; Mex., Mem. Just., 1869, 5, 72-9; S. Luis Pot., Jurados, 1-9. Adverse comments, in Chavez, Cod. Proced. Penal, 8; Maclure, Opinions, i. 413. It was extended to the army.
- ↑ In the same manner as the president Their presiding judge being temporary successor to the chief magistrate. The court is divided into three salas, or halls, the first with five judges. Four supernumeraries, one fiscal, and one procurador general are attached.
- ↑ Each covering two or more states, the three northern and that of Mérida having a wide circuit.
All of them have been frequently quoted in my pages generally as Mex., Col. Ley. and Col. Legis. Several special abridged sets have been issued in the United States by Halleck, Hamilton, Hall, and others, the latter appearing at S. F. in 1885 with an 840-page volume. The growing intercourse will bring forth more. Besides codes of procedure, as by Chavez, the different laws appear with collections of enactments, and códigos. Note allusions to reformed issues, in Diar. Debates, Cong. 6, i 648-57; ii. 51, 179-86; Mex., Mem. Just. for different years. Código Civil Imp., 1-46, is a specimen of Maximilian's efforts.
