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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | June 2005 
Mexico's Municipalities Empowered By Ruling
 Carlos Avilés - El Universal
| | Justice Olga Sánchez Cordero |
Mexico City - The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that municipalities can create their own solutions for local problems, from public lighting issues to regulating nightlife.
Shortly after the ruling, Justice Olga Sánchez Cordero, who authored the judicial opinion that was unanimously approved, could barely contain her excitement.
"This is a historic moment for the nation's politics," she said, adding she believed the decision was one of the court's most important in recent history.
Mexico's municipalities the equivalent of U.S. counties have historically had little power to handle their own problems, with federal and state governments largely limiting their control.
While a constitutional reform in 1999 theoretically gave the municipalities more power, state legislatures continued to draft the laws that governed their daily life. Tuesday's Supreme Court's ruling which bundled together the cases of various municipal leaders who in recent years have complained of the limitations they face will likely provide a precedent that will allow for greater flexibility.
According to the high court, municipal authorities still cannot make new laws. But they can now issue local regulations, if they do not contradict the nation's Constitution.
Municipalities are now allowed to regulate: Open-air markets, public festivals, nightlife, and sporting events. They also have more power to control cleaning and trash services, public lighting, cemeteries, parks, stray animals, plumbing and sewers, and signs and noise pollution. |
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