A. The Different Types of legal status
1. Some countries manage various types of legal status for religious or belief
communities. Please, describe all types of legal status religious or belief
communities may obtain.
In Mexico, by constitutional mandate1, religious groups or communities can only
have one type of legal status called religious society2, obtained by meeting the
requirements stated in the Religious Societies and Public Worship Regulation Act3
in order to get registered before the Mexican Ministry of the Interior4.
2. If there are more than one type of legal status, please, describe any benefit
or advantage corresponding to a religious society of higher status, such as:
a. Tax advantages;
b. Concession to found or run educational institutions;
c. Concession to fundraising for educational activities;
d. Concession to establish chaplaincy services in the Army or other
institutions;
e. Other advantages of a higher status in the federal legislation.
1
Article 130 Mexican Constitution
In Spanish, known as asociaciones religiosas. Legal status was granted to religious societies in Mexico in
1992 as a result of several constitutional reforms, in particular to Article 130 of the Federal Constitution,
which culminated in the adoption of the Religious Societies and Public Worship Regulation Act that same
year.
The latter is consistent with the historical background which characterized the relations between church and
State in our country where, since the colonization and conquest era of the last years of the fifteenth century
and the beginning of sixteenth, and until the first half of the nineteenth century, the Catholic Church had
acquired great power and importance in relation with public affairs, thus giving motives to mentioned
Amendments between 1855 and 1863, which were intended to restrict the interference of the Church in
State affairs and the hoarding of properties and found their expression in severe means whose essence and
consequences endured until the end of the past century.
Thus, the following was established in the original text of Article 130, paragraph 5, 1917 Constitution of the
United States of Mexico: “The law does not give any legal status to religious groups called churches”, so that
it was not before 1992 when a specific legal structure and recognition was given to religious groups and
societies continuing in force until today.
3
The Religious Societies and Public Worship Regulation Act was enacted on 13 July 1992, and published in
the Official Journal of the Federation on 15 July 1992. Its entrance in force invalided the Regulation Law of
Article 130 of the Federal Constitution of 1927 and the Regulation Law of paragraph 7 of Article 130 of the
Federal Constitution of 1931 regarding the number of priests who were able to serve in Mexico City or
Federal territories.
4
The Ministry of the Interior (Secretaría de Gobernación) is an agency of the Federal Executive Branch in
charge of, among many other duties, monitoring of compliance to the constitutional and legal provisions
related to public worship, churches, groups and religious societies according to Article 27 Organic Law of the
Federal Public Administration.
2
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As mentioned, there is only one type of legal status for religious societies;
however, it is necessary to outline that according to Religious Societies and Public
Worship Regulations Act5 persons, churches and religious groups that perform
activities specific to religious societies on a regular basis without having a
constitutive registration are not entitled to the following:
a. To celebrate all kinds of lawful, legal and non-profit acts, conducive to the
fulfillment of their aim.
b. To participate individually or in association with other individuals or legal
entities in the constitution, administration, support and functioning of
institutions of private assistance, education centers and health institutions6.
c. To use public national properties exclusively and for religious purposes7.
5
Articles 9and 10 Religious Society ad Public Worship Regulation Act
During the Amendment period between 1855 and 1863 severe measures were taken against religious
groups and communities, so that different orders for the elimination of monasteries and monastic orders,
confiscation of their assets and secularization of hospitals and charity institutions were issued. This was the
way to take control over such activities and to take away from religious groups the influence this
represented. Later on, during Porfirio Diaz’s totalitarian regime, the application of free anticlerical legislation
seemed calmed down; however, Soberanes (1998), at the fall of the Porfiriorism (1876-1911) and facing the
Mexican Revolution between 1910 and 1917, enacted the Mexican Constitution which is still in force and
basically conserves several anticlerical dispositions in Article 130.
Generally, according to the reference made by the treatise himself, Mexico had one of the most highly
anticlerical legislations, even on top of communist countries. Thus, regarding religious communities there
were the following issues: a) Secular education in public and private schools; b) Prohibition for religious
corporations and religious ministers to found or run primary schools; c) Prohibition to perform religious
devotion ceremonies and establish monastic orders; d) Public service could only be held inside churches
which permanently would be under surveillance by the authority; e) Prohibition for religious communities of
acquisition, ownership and management of real estate; f) Prohibition for ordained ministers or religious
corporations to sponsor, run or manage institutions which are aimed at persons in need, scientific research,
spread of teachings, mutual aid of associates or any illegal issue; g) Disregard of the oath as a binding means
of legality; h) Disregard of legal entity status of religious groups; i) Religious service ministers as
professionals are subject to the corresponding legislation; j) Only Mexicans by birth can exercise ministerial
service; k) Prohibition for religious ministers to criticize law, authorities or the government; l) Religious
ministers are not entitled to active or passive vote and to associate in order to pursue political interests; m)
Prohibition to revalidate or give official certification of studies realized at institutions dedicated to the
formation of religious ministers n) Prohibition to publish opinions on political issues on a regular basis; o)
Prohibition for public associations to have a determination related to religious confessions; p) Prohibition to
hold political meetings in churches; y q) Prohibition for religious ministers to inherit by testament, except for
fourth grade relatives.
7
To this regard, it should be mentioned that 1855-1863 Reform Act issued a law to allow confiscation of
clerical properties for the incorporation into the national assets. Now, precisely for this reason, 1992
Religious Society and Public Worship Regulation Act recognizes the right of religious societies to exclusively
use state properties, such as churches and sites confiscated in virtue of aforementioned Act, for their
religious purposes and services, especially of the Catholic Church.
6
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d. To enjoy other rights granted to religious societies by the law.
Therefore, it is important to note that non-compliance with the application
procedure to obtain the recognition as a religious society prevents groups and
societies to achieve legal status and, therefore, the enjoyment of the benefits
referred to earlier.
B. Recognition Application Requirements
The following questions are addressed to the acquisition of legal status by
religious societies. If you have several types of legal status religious
societies may obtain, please, indicate the requirements specific to each type.
3. Does the Act stipulate a minimum quota of members in order to recognize
religious societies as a legal entity? If so, how many members are required
to fulfill the minimum quota?
Mexican legislation does not provide for a minimum quota of members for a
religious group or society in order to obtain legal status as religious society;
however, according to the Religious Societies and Public Worship Regulation Act8,
it is required to prove having practiced religious activities on Mexican territory for at
least 5 years and being deeply rooted within the population, in order to get
registered.
According to the Regulation Law of the Religious Societies and Public Ministry
Regulation Act9 a deeply rooted status is interpreted as when the religious
practices are performed continuously by a group or individuals (without
establishing a certain number) inside a facility (the title under which it is used does
not matter, as long as it is for legal purposes) for the performance of acts related to
public worship during at least 5 years prior to the application for registration.
Therefore, currently religious societies positively may count on properties to meet their objectives which, in
case of real estate properties, can consist of State properties assigned for religious purposes and real estate
acquired by the religious society under 1992 Religious Society and Public Ministry Regulation Act.
The first are regulated by Articles 78 to 83 General Law of National Assets, adverting that they may not be
subject of divestiture of the federal public domain system, concession, permit or authorization, rent and
bailment or usufruct, but must be used exclusively for public worship.
8
Article 7 Religious Society and Public Worship Regulation Act
9
Article 8, fraction V Religious Society and Public Worship Regulation Act
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It also provides that the compliance with such requirements can be proved by
testimonials or documents issued by the competent authorities and the opening
notice of a church or facility assigned to public worship10.
4. What kind of document is to be presented by the religious society before
the competent authority in order to obtain registered legal entity status?
The documents that need to be filed by a religious society or group in order to
obtain religious society registration are the following11:
a. Application for registration addressed to the Directorate General of Religious
Societies of the Ministry of the Interior, subscribed by the members of the
Board of Directors, hierarchy or highest authority body, which should include
the following information:
 Name(s) and signature(s) of the applicant(s).
 Name of the religious society that will be registered.
 Address and persons authorized to hear or receive notifications.
 Street name, building number, neighborhood, municipality, name of the
State and zip code.
 List of properties used, owned or managed for their purposes, as well as
future assets they pretend to acquire12
b. The statutes of the religious society;
c. The representatives of the religious group or society have to sign a letter
where they manifest in a truthful way that the facilities used for their purpose
are not subject to property or ownership dispute and have not been
registered under a different religious group or society.
d. The proofs of deep rooted status and the performance of religious activities
during 5 years prior to registration application are to be presented (see
answer to question 4).
e. The list of the representatives along with photocopies of an official ID or any
other document that proves their Mexican nationality and full age13.
f. The list of the persons that comprise the management bodies and their job
titles according to the statutes, including photocopies of their official ID or
any other document to prove Mexican nationality and full age.
10
The notice of opening is provided for under Articles 24 and 26 Religious Society and Public Worship
Regulation Act. The purpose of mentioned Act is to inform the Head Department of Religious Societies, an
agency of the Mexican Department of State, about the initiation of religious activities which constitutes a
proof of deeply rooted status for the purposes to apply for religious society registration.
11
Articles 7 and 8 Religious Society and Public Worship Regulation Act
12
Article 27, fraction II Mexican Constitution establishes the capacity of religious societies so that they may
acquire, own or run exclusively properties which are indispensible to reach their goals within the
requirements and limitations established by Religious Society and Public Worship Regulation Act.
13
Full age is reached at 18 under Article 34 Mexican Constitution.
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g. The list of associates along with documents to prove their full age. Actually,
an associate is a person who is given such status by the Statutes; therefore,
not all religious worship participants or people who share their beliefs have
associate status.
h. A letter in duplicate with original signature of the representatives and
associates of the religious group or society, in which they request the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs the signing of an agreement where it is noted that
foreign members14 of the religious society or community are excluded from
ownership.
i. The list of religious ministers and their respective documents to prove full
age. Foreigners15 should prove their legal status in the country by
presenting the corresponding migration document.
5. What other type of information is required in order for a religious or belief
community to get registered legal entity status?
The information that the religious group or society applying to be registered as a
religious society has been mentioned together with the documents to be filed, in
the answer to the previous question.
However, it is important to note the specifications for the Statutes that are to be
presented. According to article 14 of the Regulation Law of the Religious Societies
and Public Ministry Regulation Act, the statutes must include, at least, name and
address; the fundamentals of their doctrine; purpose; authority system and how it
works; rights of their management, administration and representation bodies, as
well as the serving period for each position; requirements to become a religious or
cult minister, as well as the procedure for designation; and rights and obligations of
associates and representatives.
It should be noted that, in general, all applications for registration as a religious
society are governed by good faith principle, in other words, despite the authority’s
obvious veracity checking faculties16 as to declarations made respectively in the
14
This requirement is part of the provision of Article 27, fraction I, Mexican Constitution which establishes
that only Mexicans by birth or naturalization and Mexican corporations are entitled to acquire land, water
and their accessories, and in some events, the same right might be given to foreigners as long as they sign a
document before the Ministry of the Exterior where they state to consider themselves nationals when in
regard of those estates by not ask their governments to intervene for protection for being charged with loss
of the benefit of the nation, which is the assets they would have acquired by then in the event of violating
the agreement.
15
It is worthy to mention that before the amendment of Article 130 Mexican Constitution published on 28
January 1992, it was prohibited that foreigners exercise religious service.
16
Article 36 Religious Society and Public Worship Regulation Act
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application, actually it is enough to provide the requested filing in order to obtain
registration, except for the clauses and precisions already made.
6. Is there a minimum time of existence of the religious or belief society
required in order to get legal entity status?
According to Article 7 of Religious Societies and Public Ministry Regulation Act17
the requirement for registration as a religious society is that the religious group or
society had performed religious activities for at least 5 years prior to registration
application as mentioned in details in the answer to question 3.
7. Is a religious or belief society under the obligation to reveal their financial
condition when applying for legal entity status? If so, is there a protection
regulation related to the requirements of excessive and insider information?
Law does not provide that religious societies applying for religious society status
registration should exhibit their financial status but only declare the real estate18
they use, own or run in order to meet their objectives, or those they pretend to
acquire for the same reason19.
On the other hand, religious societies are bound to meet tax regulations20;
however, this does not imply that they have to expose their financial background,
as the information provided to the fiscal authority does not have this character.
However, there positively exists an obligation to present to the Directorate General
of Religious Societies real estate they use, own or run in order to meet their
objectives and all the respective modifications. Also, for the acquisition of any real
estate, a declaration of origin by the Directorate General of Religious Societies is
needed, following verification that the acquisition is necessary to meet their
purposes21.
C. Responsible State bodies and proceedings.
17
Article 7 Religious Society and Public Worship Regulation Act
Approximately since 1833 the possession of real estate by the Catholic Church had been the center of
great national debates in Mexico provoking civil wars, confiscations and political encounters which ended in
1855-1863 Amendment Act issuance of and the end of the Christers War in 1929. The latter, as a result of
the application of several regulation norms under the provision of 130 Mexican Constitution Article which
among others and exactly as mentioned, actually eradicates the interference of the Church in public affairs
and established severe restrictions on their activities in general, even as to their public ministry.
19
Article 7 Religious Society and Public Worship Regulation Act
20
Article 19 Religious Society and Public Worship Regulation Act
21
Article 17 Religious Society and Public Worship Regulation Act
18
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8. Which body or bodies should a religious or belief society see in order to
file for recognition as a legal entity? If there is more than one, please,
describe their composition and structure. If there are other bodies involved,
for example, such as the ones with advisory character for the decision
making board, please indicate the role of them.
In Mexico, anything concerning the establishment, registration and activities of
religious societies is of federal competence; therefore, the States cannot legislate
nor intervene in religious society matters, but only as auxiliary authorities22. The
Executive Branch through the Ministry of the Interior (and its Directorate General of
Religious Associations) is in charge of reviewing the requirements for the
establishment as a religious society, the registration of real estate and any other
aspect related to them23.
The latter does not mean that there are not more state bodies with which religious
societies interact. However, it is not referred to the establishment and registration,
but to different application procedures such as: migration, real estate of the nation
in their possession, taxes and land regulation, to mention only some.
The administrative structure of the Directorate General of Religious Associations is
the following:
-
22
23
Director General of Religious Associations
o Director of Cult Ministers
 Subdirector of Attention to Religious Associations
 Chief of Department of Attention to Religious
Associations
 Liaison Subdirector
 Liaison Chief of Department
 Subdirector of Reports and Statistics
o Director of Regulations
 Subdirector of Arbitration
 Chief of Department of Arbitration
 Subdirector of Norms and Sanctions
 Chief of Department of Norms
 Chief of Department of Sanctions
o Director of Registration and Certifications
 Subdirector of Movements of Religious Associations
 Chief of Department of Follow-up to Movements
Article 130 Mexican Constitution
Articles 25-28 and Article 3 Religious Society and Public Worship Regulation Act
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

Subdirector of Registration of Religious Associations
 Chief of Department of Documental Updating
 Chief of Department of Constitution of Religious
Associations
Subdirector of Real State Registry
 Chief of Department of Declarations of Origin
 Chief of Department of Patrimonial Inscription
9. What guaranties exist to ensure that a body or bodies involved in
processing registration applications as a legal entity filed by religious
societies or belief is neutral, impartial and independent?
The Mexican Constitution prohibits any religious discrimination24. Also, it warrants
the right of every person to attend ceremonies, devotions or worship acts
respectively, individually or as a group, in public or in private, and determines that
Congress is not allowed to enact laws to establish or prohibit any religion 25.
Furthermore, authorities shall not interfere with religious societies’ internal
affairs.26.
Thus, under the assumptions made, registration authorities have the obligation to
respect different beliefs and the rights of individuals to profess to a religion of their
free choice and belong to or be part of a religious society as long as they meet the
legal requirements.
Therefore, the Religious Societies and Public Worship Regulation Act provides for
administrative review of the acts by the Directorate General of Religious Societies,
by the Ministry of the Interior27.
In any case, those who consider that their interests have been infringed upon by
the performance of the reviewing body and if granted registration as a religious
society, they would have access to different administrative or legal appeals, such
as the administrative nullity trial, or to the amparo trial28. The latter is especially
created to combat the violation of the human rights protected by Mexican
Constitution and international treaties our country signed up to.
10. Is there any investigation and inspection made by the body in charge of
legal entity status applications from religious or belief societies or by any
24
Article 1 Mexican Constitution
Article 24 Mexican Constitution
26
Article 130 Mexican Constitution
27
Articles 33-35 Religious Society and Public Worship Regulation Act
28
Articles 103 and 107 Mexican Constitution
25
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other body? If so, please describe what this body or bodies normally
investigate or test.
The Religious Societies and Public Ministry Regulation Act only establishes the
requirements and data that the registration application filed by religious groups or
societies for religious society status should contain. Although the act does not
specify if this body should check the veracity and content, it is clear that there are
some elements that must be analyzed externally.
In that regard, the following can be established:


Checking that the name of the religious society to be established does not
match another registration given preciously29;
Checking that the site used for its purpose has not been registered
previously by another religious society30.
So, these are the requirements that the authority normally checks before
considering the registration application to be proper. This is, of course,
independent of the review to be carried out regarding the application and its
accompanying documentation, as well as the exercise of its faculties of verification.
11. In what time frame should the body hearing the application of religious or
belief societies decide on its acceptance or rejection? What happens if the
body has not made its decision before the deadline?
The Directorate General of Religious Societies has 30 labor days to decide on the
application after an excerpt of the application is published31 in the Official Journal
of the Federation32.
If no decision is made during this period of time, law does not provide a specific
legal consequence. However, this may be implicitly considered as a rejection of the
application33.
29
Articles 9, fraction I and 8, fraction I Religious Society and Public Worship Regulation Act
Article 28, fraction V Religious Society and Public Worship Regulation Act
31
Once the establishment registration application as a religious society is properly integrated and complete,
the Head Department of Religious Societies must publish an excerpt of the application in the Official Journal
of the Federation according to Article 10 Religious Society and Public Worship Regulation Act pursuing,
among other purposes, that any person who has an opposite interest of that of the actors may have the
possibility to manifest it before the competent authority.
32
Article 12 Religious Society and Public Worship Regulation Act
33
This, according to the precedence of the Supreme of the Nation under the classification: FICTITIOUS
NEGATIVE. IT IS CONFIGURED REGARDING TO THE FEDERAL ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITIES SE
CONFIGURA RESPECTO DE LAS AUTORIDADES ADMINISTRATIVAS FEDERALES SUBJECT TO THE FEDERAL
COURT OF FISCAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE JUSTICE OMETIDAS A LA COMPETENCIA DEL TRIBUNAL FEDERAL
30
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12. Is the body in charge of processing legal entity status applications by
religious or belief societies required to provide in writing the reasons for its
decisions? If so, what types of reasons can be provided for the rejection of
an application?
When the Head Department of Religious Societies determines a registration
applicable, it should deliver to the relevant religious group or society the ruling in
which the reason for the registration status as a religious society is established and
motivated, as well as the certificate of the registration status as a religious society
34.
On the other hand, even though the law does not require that the rejection of an
application should be followed by a written explanation of the reasons for the
decision, the fact is that according to Mexican Constitution all authorities are
required to communicate in writing the grounds and motives for their decisions for
any written request or application filed by individuals35.
Now, as to the reasons that the authority can provide for rejecting a registration
application, for an illustrative but not exhaustive list, the following should be
mentioned:
a. That sign the registration application has not been signed by the
representatives of the religious group or society.
b. That they do not prove that they have statutes.
c. That the name of the religious society to be is already used by another
religious society.
d. That they do not prove that they have already applied for agreement signing
with the Ministry of the Exterior regarding the reservation of property right for
foreigner associations.
e. That they do not prove their continuous activity during the 5 years prior to
the filing a religious society registration application or a deeply rooted status
within the community.
f. That they have not established an address in Mexico.
g. That an objection by a third party has been accepted by the Head
Department of Religious Societies.
It should be emphasized that in case of incompliance with any of the requirements
under the regulations, the Head Department of Religious Societies must warn the
DE JUSTICIA FISCAL Y ADMINISTRATIVA, corresponding to 9th period; 2nd Chamber; S.J.F. and its Gazette;
Volume XXVI, December 2007; Page 208.
34
Article 12 Religious Society and Public Worship Regulation Act
35
Articles 8 and 16 Mexican Constitution
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applicants in order to give them the chance to provide remedy within a time limit of
3 months36.
13. Is the religious or belief society free to choose its own name or are there
restrictions regarding the name that it may use?
There are three restrictions as to the use of the name as follows:
a. They cannot use a name which is already used by another religious
society37.
b. They cannot use a name which contains words or titles that are associated
with political groups38.
c. The name cannot contain expressions that offend morality and decency,
disturb public order or undermine the public interest.
D. Consequences of obtaining legal entity status.
14. Please list the type of legal acts that the religious or belief society can
perform (file law-suits, enter into contracts, file applications for commercial
use of an estate, etc.). Please, list these and provide examples. Only consider
open acts of legal entities with a major status in the national legislation.
Religious societies have the status of a legal entity and can perform the following:
a. Use a name exclusively.
b. Perform actions of religious worship and spread their doctrines.
c. Perform any type of legal acts (contracts, administrative license, permits,
etc.) as long as they are legal and related to the achievement of their
objectives.
d. Participate alone or together with other individuals or legal entities in the
establishment, maintenance and functioning of institutions for private
assistance, education facilities or health centers as long as they are of nonprofit character.
e. Use state properties exclusively for religious purposes.
f. They have the right to non-intervention by any authority in their internal
affairs, which are governed under statutes.
g. They have the right to manage their heritage and income, which includes
among others offerings, tithes, firstlings and donations.
36
Article 9 Religious Society and Public Worship Regulation Act
Articles 9, fraction I and 8, fraction I Religious Society and Public Worship Regulation Act
38
Article 130 Mexican Constitution
37
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h. By authorization of the Head Department of Religious Societies only
religious societies are allowed to transmit or spread through non-print mass
media acts of their religious worship39.
i. Religious societies can rely on foreign religious ministers while nonregistered religious groups and communities cannot.
15. Does legal entity status recognition of a religious or belief community on
federal level automatically mean recognition on state level, and vice versa?
As established in the answer to question 8, in Mexico the Federation is exclusively
responsible for matters concerning regulation and registration of religious
societies40. Consequently, local and municipal authorities may only intervene as
auxiliary bodies41 based on agreements the State Department might sign.
In that sense, the registration given to a religious society is valid throughout the
whole Mexican territory and, on state level, local authorities cannot approve
registrations.
E. Dissolution and prohibitions.
16. Can a religious or belief community dissolve itself voluntarily? If so,
please outline how this is done. Are there limitations regarding voluntary
mergers or the separation of religious units?
Even if it is not established by law, the statutes of religious groups and
communities obtaining their registration as religious society should contain all
norms necessary for the regulation of their internal functioning which, of course,
includes norms addressing the regulation of their dissolution.
On the other hand, under the principle that persons are allowed to perform all
those acts which are not expressly prohibited by law, when it comes to obtaining
the registration of a voluntary act it is clear that a religious society can always,
according to its internal proceedings, request the cancellation of its registration for
the purpose of dissolution.
As to fusions and separations, the law does not establish any regulation. This
suggests that there are no restrictions as long as the norms and proceedings
applicable to the attainment of registration are respected.
39
Article 30 Religious Society and Public Worship Regulation Act
Article 130 Mexican Constitution
41
Article 25 Religious Society and Public Worship Regulation Act
40
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Having said that, the Religious Societies and Public Worship Regulation Act
provides for the possibility that religious societies organize themselves in internal
entities and divisions. Such internal entities, whether they are local or other forms
of autonomous organizations within their own associations, might even enjoy their
own legal entity status42.
17. Is it possible to suspend, prohibit and/or involuntarily dissolve religious
or belief communities? If so, please describe the proceeding to do so and
mention what special motives may justify such action. What proceeding
guarantees are provided (for instance, warnings, deadlines for remedy, etc.)?
Yes, it is possible to temporarily suspend the rights of a religious society on the
federal or even on state, municipal or local level, as well as to cancel the
corresponding registration, against the will of the association.
This might occur when the religious society violates any of the provisions of
Religious Societies and Public Ministry Regulation Act43, as follows:
a. If it associates with political purposes, or performs propaganda or
proselytism for or against a candidate or political party;
b. If its conducts and activities harm the patriotic symbols or initiate their
rejection;
c. If it administers under any form properties or rights which are not necessary
for its objective;
d. If it promotes the performance of conducts contrary to health or the physical
integrity of persons;
e. If it exercises moral or physical pressure in order to meet its objective;
f. If a religious group or community presents itself as a religious society
without having the corresponding registration;
g. If it assigns the properties obtained from any title for purposes different than
to meet its objectives;
h. If it diverts its activities so that is loses or severely undermines its religious
nature;
i. If it converts its religious acts into meetings of a political nature;
j. If it opposes the laws of the country or its institutions in public meetings;
k. If it performs or permits acts that threaten properties considered part of the
country’s cultural heritage that are under the protection and care of the
state, as well as if it fails to realize the activities necessary for the
conservation of such properties;
42
43
Article 26 Religious Society and Public Worship Regulation Act
Article 29 Religious Society and Public Worship Regulation Act
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l.
If it omits to immediately inform the competent authority in relation to a
probable commission of crimes committed through the exercise of its
worship or its facilities; also, when the crimes are committed against
children and adolescents, it should immediately inform its tutors;
m. If it commits crimes in the performance of its worship or inside their facilities;
n. If it fails to meet other applicable legal provisions.
The proceedings44 to be followed by the authority in order to penalize the conducts
related to religious societies are the following:
a. The body in charge of inspecting the conducts and imposing the sanctions is
a Sanctioning Commission of the Department of State45, which is composed
by officeholders of the Head Department of Religious Societies, the Legal
Matters Unit and the Promotion, and the Promotion and Defense of Human
Rights Unit, all of which are within the Department of State46.
b. The Sanctioning Commission should notify the religious society or actor
about the acts with which it is charged and are deemed contrary to the
Religious Societies and Public Worship Regulation Act so that it is given the
opportunity to appear and claim to its rights and, if necessary, to provide the
evidence it deems relevant within the 15 days following the notification.
c. After the deadline, regardless of whether the actor has appeared or not, the
Sanction Commission will issue the appropriate law resolution.
In this regard, the sanctions that can be imposed are as follows:
a. Warning;
b. Fine of up to twenty thousand days of general minimum wage of Mexico City
(currently that would amount to 1,295,200.00 MXN);
c. Permanent or temporary closure of facilities assigned to public worship;
d. Temporary suspension of rights of a religious society on federal, state,
municipal or local level;
e. Cancellation of religious society registration.
Regarding the guarantees given in the proceedings, they specifically refer to the
right of hearing and defense, given that it is established that the religious society
must be notified of the acts with which it is charged and given the possibility to
claim its rights and provide the evidence it deems relevant, all of which, by law,
must be considered by the Sanction Commission as it issues its decision.
44
Article 30 Religious Society and Public Worship Regulation Act
Article 30 Religious Society and Public Ministry Regulation Act
46
Article 38 Religious Society and Public Ministry Regulation Act
45
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Moreover, due to its status of legal entity with legal recognition it certainly enjoys all
the judicial and procedural guarantees47 provided for in the Mexican Constitution
as well as in international treaties signed by Mexico.
F. Unregistered Activities
18. Is unregistered religious activity prohibited by law? If so, please mention
the maximum sentence for such activities.
As previously mentioned, the penalty for those groups or religious communities
who perform activities without registration with the Head Department of Religious
Societies, consists, on the one hand, in that they do not enjoy a large number of
the rights established in the law for religious societies.
On the other hand, the obligations derived from the performance of several legal
acts and the actions of not registered religious groups and communities are to be
assigned to individual persons and legal entities if necessary.
Additionally, while the performance of such types of activities are not punishable
according to the Religious Societies and Public Worship Regulation Act, it
constitutes a violation of law if an organization ostensibly presents itself as a
religious society without the corresponding registration and, if necessary, some of
the sanctions mentioned in the answer to question 17 can be applied.
In this case, the most severe sanctions consist in fines and closure of premises
used to carry out activities related to public worship.
G. Appeals and remedies.
19. To which agency or court may a religious or belief community turn in the
event of the rejection of its legal entity status application? Which
administrative or judicial body has the last say in the event that the appeal is
rejected?
As stated in the answer to question 9, in the event that an application for
registration as a religious society is rejected, the first resource that the applicant
can use is the review which is responsibility of the Department of State. The review
is an administrative proceeding.
47
Article 1 Mexican Constitution
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Now, in the event that an adverse sentence in the review, the applicants may file
an administrative federal law-suit which is an administrative instance regulated by
Federal Law of Administrative Trial Proceedings whereby the Federal Court of
Fiscal and Administrative Justice, an agency of the Federal Branch, is in charge of
the ruling.
Finally, the sentence handed down by this instance can, as mentioned earlier, be
appealed to a judicial instance for the protection of the human rights recognized by
the Mexican Constitution and international treaties signed by Mexico.
20. Please describe the appeals process and the resources provided for any
religious or belief community whose legal entity status has been suspended
or involuntarily dissolved or prohibited.
Please find the description of remedy proceedings for review practiced by the State
Department in the answer to question 17. Now, for the case of a religious society
whose rights are suspended, the filing process is similar since the recognition of its
directive bodies and authorities remains in force.
Further, in the event of registration cancellation, the same authorities who were
recognized during the period of validity continue to be responsible for the
representation and obligation for to legal acts performed by the religious society
when it still enjoyed registered status.
In another vein, the procedure followed in the federal administrative trial is
summarized below:
a. The appeal must be filed within 45 days of the notification of the sentence
delivered through review by the Department of State 48.
b. The responsible authority shall pronounce a verdict on the appeal within 45
days of the filing deadline49.
c. Then, 10 days after completion of the trial proceedings, the investigating
Justice shall provide five days for the parties to formulate complaints; and
once the deadline has passed, the investigation will be declared closed50.
d. A sentence on this regard must be delivered within 60 days after the
investigation has been declared closed51.
48
Article 13 Federal Law of Administrative Controversy Proceedings
Article 19 Federal Law of Administrative Controversy Proceedings
50
Article 47 Federal Law of Administrative Controversy Proceedings
51
Article 49 Federal Law of Administrative Controversy Proceedings
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