Mexico Trade Capacity Building Project: Enhancement of the Business and Legal Environment and Trade Capacity through Legal Reform and Improvements in the Administration of Justice by Commercial Courts in Mexico

The organization collaborated with the Ministry of Economy and other stakeholders to implement various training programs and activities aimed at promoting secured transactions reform, competition law, and oral trial procedures. In the second quarter of 2012, the NLCIFT secured transactions reform and training of the judiciary, with the first three training sessions held on May 7-9, 2012. The sessions were attended by over 400 people, including trial and appellate level judges, court clerks, bankers, notaries, and lawyers. The program consisted of presentations and question and answer sessions, with speakers from the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and NLCIFT staff members. Printed materials were prepared for the participants, compiling international legislation on secured transactions, and the speakers' power points were posted on the NLCIFT website. The NLCIFT also conducted oral trial training for judges in April 2012, with a second skill-based training program on oral trials for commercial matters held with the State Court of Tabasco. The session culminated with the simulation of an entire oral trial hearing presented by attendees who practiced with NLCIFT team members. The training aimed at completing the training of those members of the judiciary that were unable to attend the first program, and a limited number of lawyers and notaries attended this training. In addition, the NLCIFT held a practical training workshop for judges on competition law, in collaboration with the Mexican Federal Competition Commission (COFECO) and Abt Associates. The workshop was held on May 14-16, 2012, and consisted of a general conference-style session followed by a practical exercise in which attendees had to decide a hypothetical case specifically designed for the workshops. The attendees and speakers both provided excellent reviews of the workshop and the practical hypothetical exercise. The NLCIFT will continue to work with the Ministry of Economy on secured transactions reform, including drafting the "Manual for the Enforcement of Security interests" and coordinating additional training programs or the dissemination of webinars using the recordings from the first program held in May 2012. The organization will also begin coordinating a second training program for the federal judiciary on competition law, and will continue to collaborate with both the federal and state-level judiciary to conduct training programs on oral trial procedure for commercial matters. The NLCIFT will deliver conferences, lectures, and hold meetings aimed at increasing awareness and understanding the impact of the reforms as well as for building productive working relationships with various stakeholders, including the federal judiciary, state courts, and the National Association of State Public Defenders. The organization will also begin discussions in preparation for a second workshop on the abuse of dominance (Relative Monopolistic Practices).