For the 7th consecutive year, the Mexican Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain (MexCC) in partnership with The Law Society of England and Wales and in collaboration with The Bar Council, the Mexican bar associations ANADE, BMA and INCAM, the ICC and UNAM organized the Lex Mex Conference.
Yves Hayaux du Tilly, honorary chairman of the MexCC, opened the event welcoming an audience formed mainly by solicitors, Mexican lawyers and barristers. The conference began with a presentation on the state of Mexico’s economy by Rodrigo Aguilera, former analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, who outlined the current contrasting tendencies in Mexican economy.
This year’s keynote speech was addressed by Dr Issa Luna Pla, academic secretary of the Legal Research Institute (IIJ) of UNAM. Dr Luna Pla presented the work that she is doing in the Observatory of Corruption and Impunity in UNAM mapping networks of corruption as an instrument to understand their modus operandi. Dr Luna Pla also explained the current status of implementation of the National Anticorruption System.
In this occasion, the “Year in Review” panels were on: Criminal Law, Commercial Litigation and Arbitration, Employment Law and Green Finance.
In the panel on Criminal Law, Amanda Pinto QC, vice chair of the Bar Council, described the current challenges and complexities in England of disclosure issues in a digital age and the special measures available for giving evidence, and access to justice related matters; and Victor Oléa Peláez, vice president of BMA explained the various implications and challenges of the new adversarial model in criminal law currently in effect in Mexico.
The panel on Commercial Litigation and Arbitration was moderated by Frederico Singarajah QC, barrister at Hardwicke Chambers, with the participation of Elías Mendoza of Guerra González Abogado; Horacio Paredes Vázquez of Malpica Iturbe Buj y Paredes (MIBP); and Sergio Rodríguez of Labastida, Rodríguez & Perchemlian as panellists. They described the differences in arbitration and litigation in Mexico and in England, providing the audience useful recommendations on how to navigate the Mexican courts system and rules applicable to arbitration in Mexico.
The Labour and Employment Law panel was moderated by Adrián Ojeda, president of ANADE and featured a presentation by Héctor González Graf, partner at MGGL, on the practical aspects of the complex new reform to the employment and labour justice system in Mexico.
The panel on Green Finance had no precedent in the Lex Mex. The panellists explained key concepts of green finance and raised awareness of the relevance of the topic. The speakers in the panel were Chantalle Thomson from The Carbon Trust and Yves Hayaux du Tilly partner at Nader, Hayaux & Goebel and Isabel Miranda, consultant in risk management and business development moderated the panel.
In the last panel “Legal Perspectives of Doing Business in and with Mexico” Lucía Guijarro, Senior Legal Counsel at Honeywell, and Leopoldo Hernández, partner at KermaPartners, explained fundamental elements to consider when doing business in Mexico and the differences and similarities between civil and common law from a business and corporate perspective.
Justice of the Mexican Supreme Court Fernando Franco González-Salas, after being introduced by Lord Daniel Brennan QC, made a presentation about the reform to the Mexican labour and employment justice system. Justice Franco explained that the reform involves a whole new justice model, a new paradigm and therefore, it implies a new labour culture. The point of the reform, he explained “is to have a better administration of labour justice, that rectifies all the defects and deficiencies that the former justice model presented.”
David Greene, vice-president of The Law Society, gave the final remarks to close the morning conference.
In the afternoon, some of the attendees, including Adrián Ojeda Cuevas, president of Asociación Nacional de Abogados de Empresa Colegio de Abogados (ANADE); Ana Elena González Treviño, director of the Centre for Mexican Studies of King’s College London; Ángel Junquera Sepúlveda, president of Ilustre y Nacional Colegio de Abogados de México (INCAM); Colchuma Ali, deputy head of Mexico of the FCO; Elías Mendoza, partner at Guerra González Abogados; Héctor González Graf, partner at MGGL; Horacio Paredes, partner at MIBP; Issa Luna Pla head of the Observatory of Corruption and Impunity of IIJ-UNAM; James Dauris, head of the Latin America Department in the FCO; Justice Fernando Franco of the SCJN; Leopoldo Hernández, partner at KermaPartners; Lizette Robleto Howarth, international programmes manager of The Law Society; Richard Atkins QC, chair of the Bar Council; and Víctor Oléa Peláez, vice president of Barra Mexicana Colegio de Abogados (BMA) participated in the first Lex Mex Workshop which was moderated by Yves Hayaux du Tilly, partner of Nader Hayaux & Goebel.
The Lex Mex Workshop aimed to identify specific topics, discuss ideas and agree on specific projects in which the Mexican and British legal sector can work together through the year to achieve a more plausible impact in improving the legal system of both countries. The following topics were discussed in the Workshop: fight against corruption; anti-money laundering; judicial independence and the role of lawyers in defending the rule of law.
For more information about the Lex Mex and other events organized by the MexCC, please contact Milène Hayaux du Tilly, Executive Director of the MexCC ([email protected])
On the Mexican Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain
The Mexican Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain (MexCC) was formed in 2011 with the support of key stakeholders in the bilateral relationship to represent the Mexican private sector in the UK, support Mexican investors, businesspeople and traders enter the UK market, and UK investors, businesspeople and traders interested in doing business in Mexico and raise Mexico’s profile as a business partner, promoting Mexico as an investment and trade destination. The MexCC is a non-for-profit private sector organization funded by its members and sponsors consisting of businesses from entrepreneurs to multinational corporations across a range of sectors like, energy, financial services, food & drinks, infrastructure, insurance, etc. The MexCC works in coordination with both Governments, their respective Embassies and promotion agencies, as well as with other private sector organisations in Mexico and the UK, and is the authoritative voice of the Mexican private sector before the international business community in London. For more info please visit: http://www.mexicanchamberofcommerce.co.uk/
