Amparo Law Reforms Risk Human Rights in Mexico

Cancún, Quintana Roo — Members of the Barra de Abogados de Quintana Roo, Colegio Profesional A.C., have expressed significant concern regarding reforms to the Amparo Law currently under discussion in the Mexican Congress. They believe the proposed changes could represent a setback in the protection of human rights and limit effective access to justice.

Mauro Carmona Díaz de León, president of the Colegio, warned that the initiative has a "pro-authority" focus and runs counter to the principle of progressivity enshrined in Article 1 of the Constitution. He indicated that the main points of concern are the figure of legitimate interest, the suspensions of the contested act, and the compliance with amparo rulings.

According to the jurists, the reform seeks to limit legitimate interest by requiring a "real, current, and differentiated legal injury," a move they warned could exclude collectives, communities, and vulnerable groups that currently can use the amparo to defend their rights.

They also alerted that the proposal would allow judges to deny the suspension of the contested act—the most important precautionary measure in an amparo trial—based on broad criteria such as "social interest." In their judgment, this weakens judicial protection against abuses of authority.

For his part, Mario González Diego Gutiérrez, director of the Colegio's Commission of Constitutional Law and Amparo, reported that the organization participated in analysis sessions in the Chamber of Deputies. There, they presented specific modification proposals for Articles 128 and 138, with the goal of ensuring real protection against acts such as arbitrary detentions or illegal arrest warrants.

In the environmental sphere, the lawyers stated that the reforms also threaten the possibility of filing collective amparos, which have been key to halting projects that affect the natural environment. They recalled the case of Malecón Tajamar in Cancún, where an amparo successfully stopped a development in defense of the environment and the public interest.

The Barra de Abogados reiterated its commitment to the defense of the principle of progressivity in human rights and called on the Congress of the Union to listen to the technical and specialized voices of the legal profession. "The amparo must continue to be an instrument of citizen protection, not a figure subject to political or administrative control," they concluded.