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Published in the Federal Official Newspaper on June 11, 2002

FEDERAL LAW OFTRANSPARENCYAND ACCESS TOPUBLIC GOVERNMENTINFORMATION

PART ONECOMMON PROVISIONS FOR COMPELLED BODIES

General Provisions

Chapter

13

FEDERALLAW

This law is mandatory for the government. Itspurpose is to provide whatever is necessary inorder to guarantee access, by any individual,to the information in the hands of any of thePowers of the Republic, any of theautonomous bodies and any other federalentity.

Article 1 Article 3

All government information referred to thisLaw is deemed public and all individuals shallhave access to said information based upon theprovisions set forth in this Law.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Law, the followingconcepts shall mean:

I. Committees: All information committeesfor each one of the departments andentities mentioned in Article 29 of thisLaw or the principals of those mentionedin Article 31;

II. Personal Information or Data: Allinformation concerning an individual, iden-tified or identifiable, including their ethnicor racial origin, or related to their physical,moral or emotional characteristics, theirpersonal and family life, residence,telephone number, patrimony, ideology,political opinions, religious or philosophicalbeliefs or convictions, physical or mentalhealth, sexual preferences, or any othersimilar preferences that could have animpact on their intimacy;

III. Documents: All files, reports, tests,certificates, resolutions, official letters,correspondence, agreements, policies,guidelines, memos, contracts, covenants,orders, notes, memoranda, statistics or anyother registry or record that documentsthe exercise of the abilities or activities ofthe compelled agencies and publicservants, regardless of the source or theissuance date. Documents may be foundin any means such as written, printed, oral,visual, electronic, informative, orholographic;

IV. Departments and Entities: Thosementioned in the Organic Law of FederalPublic Administration, including thePresidency of the Republic, decentralized

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bodies and the Attorney General’s Officeof the Republic;

V. Information: That contained in thedocuments created, obtained, acquired,transformed or kept by the compelledbodies for any title;

VI. Privileged Information: Any informationtemporarily subjected to any of theexceptions provided in Articles 13 and 14 ofthis Law;

VII. Institute: The Federal Institute of Access toInformation created in Article 33 of thisLaw;

VIII.Law: The Federal Law of Transparency andAccess to Public Government Information;

IX. Autonomous Constitutional Bodies: TheFederal Electoral Institute, the NationalCommission of Human Rights, the Bank ofMexico, the universities and any otheracademic institutions of higher studiesthat have received autonomy by law, andany other organization established in thePolitical Constitution of the UnitedMexican States;

X. Regulation: The regulation related to theFederal Executive Power, the Federal Lawof Transparency and Access to PublicGovernment Information;

XI. Public Servants: Those mentioned inparagraph one of Article 108 of theConstitution and any other individualsthat make use of or manage federal publicresources.

XII. National Security: Actions aimed toprotect the integrity, stability, andpermanence of the Mexican State,democratic governability, external defenseand domestic security of the Federation,aimed to the general well being of thesociety and enabling the achievement ofthe goals of the Constitutional State;

XIII.Personal Data System: The orderly set ofpersonal data in the possession of acompelled agency;

XIV. Compelled Bodies:a) The Federal Executive Power, the

Federal Public Administration, and theAttorney General’s Office;

b) The Federal Legislative Power, formedby the Chamber of Deputies and theChamber of Senators, the PermanentCommission and any of its bodies;

c) The Federal Judicial Power of theFederation and the Council of theFederal Judicature;

d) Any autonomous constitutional body;

e) Any federal administrative court, and

f) Any other federal body.

XV. Administrative Units: Those that inaccordance with the rules of each of thecompelled bodies have information basedupon the powers conferred to them.

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FEDERALLAW

The following are the objectives of this Law:

I. Provide whatever is necessary so that anyone may have access to information bymeans of simple and fast procedures.

II. Make public management transparent bymeans of spreading the informationcreated by the compelled bodies;

III. Guarantee the protection of personal datain custody of the compelled bodies;

IV. Promote accountability to citizens, so thatthey are able to assess the performance ofthe compelled bodies.

V. Improve the organization,characterization, and management ofdocuments, and

VI. Contribute to the democratization ofMexican society and the full enforcementof a State of right.

Article 4 Article 5

Article 6

This Law is mandatory for all federal publicservants.

In the interpretation of this Law the principleof publicity of information in possession of thecompelled bodies should be favored.

Chapter

Transparency Obligations

17

FEDERALLAW

IX. Information on the allocated budget, aswell as reports concerning its use, basedupon the terms of the Federal Budget ofExpenditure. For the case of the FederalExecutive, said information shall beavailable for each department and entityat the Tax Ministry, which at the sametime shall publish the economic situation,public finances and public debt, basedupon the terms of said budget;

X. The results of audits performed during thefiscal year of each compelled body andaccordingly by the Comptroller andAdministrative Development Ministry,internal comptrollers’ offices or the FederalSuperior Auditing Office, and, if it is thecase, they should also include anynecessary clarification.

XI. The design, execution, allocated amounts,and criteria used for access to subsidyprograms. As well as the list ofbeneficiaries of all social programsestablished by the Decree of the FederalBudget of Expenditure;

XII. Licenses, permits and authorizationsgranted, specifying the name of theprincipals;

XIII.Hiring agreements entered into based,upon the corresponding legislationdetailing each:

a) Public works, goods acquired or leased,services rendered; in the case ofstudies or research the specific topicshall be stated;

Exception made for the information deemedby this Law as privileged or confidential, allcompelled bodies shall have available andupdated for the general public, based upon theRegulations and the guidelines issued by theInstitute or the equivalent departmentmentioned in Article 61, the followinginformation, among other:

I. Its organizational structure;

II. The powers of each one of theadministrative units;

III. The directory of public servants, from thelevel of department head or its equivalent;

IV. The monthly wage per position, includingthe compensation system, according tothe corresponding provisions;

V. The address of the Liaison Unit, and theelectronic address where requests forinformation can be sent;

VI. The goals and objectives of theadministrative units based upon theiroperative schedules;

VII. Services rendered;

VIII.Procedures, requirements and formats. Incase they are registered before the FederalRegistry of Procedures and Services orbefore the registry established fortaxation purposes by the Tax Ministry,they shall be published as recorded.

Article 7

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Article 8

The Judicial Power of the Federation shallmake public all sentences that have beendecreed, the parties may object thepublication of their personal data.

Article 9

The information contained in Article 7 shall beavailable for the general public by means ofremote media or local electroniccommunication systems. All compelled bodiesshall have available computing equipment sothat the general public is able to obtain theinformation in a direct way or by means of hardcopies. Furthermore, they shall offer support tothe users that need it and provide all types ofhelp regarding the procedures and servicesrendered.

The departments and entities shall prepare theautomation, presentation and content of theirinformation, as well as its integration on line,based upon the terms of the Regulations andguidelines issued by the Institute.

b) The amount;

c) Name of the supplier, contractor, orthe company or individual with whomthe agreement was entered, and

d) The terms of said agreements.

XIV.The regulatory framework correspondingto each compelled body;

XV. The reports that the compelled bodiesmust create by law;

XVI.If it is the case, the mechanism for citizens’participation; and

XVII. Any other piece of information that couldbe useful or that is considered relevant,besides those used statistically to answerthe most common questions posed by thegeneral public.

The information referred to in this Article shallbe published in such a way that it is easy touse and be understood by the people, and thatassures its quality, veracity, promptness andreliability. All bodies and entities shall adhereto the recommendations issued by theInstitute.

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FEDERALLAW

Article 10

The bodies and entities shall make public,directly or through the Juridical Council of theFederal Executive or the Federal Commissionof Regulation Improvements, based upon theprovisions of the Regulations, and at least 20workdays prior to the date in which they areto be published or signed by the holder of theFederal Executive Power, the drafts andadministrative provisions of a general naturementioned in Article 4 of the Federal Law ofAdministrative Procedures, unless theJuridical Council of the Federal Executive orthe Federal Commission of RegulationImprovements, accordingly determines thatthe publication of said information maycompromise the results expected by law or itis an emergency situation, in conformancewith that law.

Article 11

The reports presented by political parties andnational political groupings before the FederalElectoral Institute, as well as the audits andverifications ordered by the ExaminingCommission of Public Resources of PoliticalParties and Groupings, shall be made public atthe end of the corresponding examiningprocedure.

Any citizen may request from the FederalElectoral Institute information concerning theuse of public resources given to politicalparties and national political groupings.

Article 12

Compelled bodies shall make public allinformation regarding the amounts of, andthe people receiving for any reason publicresources, as well as reports delivered by saidpeople regarding the use and destination ofsaid public resources.

Chapter

Privileged andConfidential Information

21

FEDERALLAW

Article 13

Any information that could cause any of thefollowing situations shall be deemed asprivileged:

I. Endanger the national security or nationaldefense;

II. Undermine the negotiations orinternational relations, including anyinformation that the states or otherinternational organizations give to theMexican government characterized asconfidential;

III. Damage the financial, economic ormonetary stability of the country;

IV. Risk the life, health, or safety or any person;

V. Serious damage in the verification of lawfulfillment, crime prevention orpersecution, law enforcement, taxrevenue, migration control, the proceduralstrategies of judicial or administrativeprocesses, as long as the resolutions havenot been decreed.

Article 14

The following shall also be deemed asprivileged information:

I. Information that due to an expressedstatement of a given law is consideredconfidential, privileged, commerciallyprivileged or state confidential;

II. Commercial, industrial, fiscal, banking,fiduciary or any other secret, deemed assuch by a legal provision;

III. Preliminary findings;

IV. Judicial files or files of administrativeproceedings that are still under trial andhave not been decreed;

V. Responsibility proceedings of publicservants, as long as the finaladministrative resolution has not beentaken or the definitive jurisdictionaldecision has not been made; or

VI. If it contains the opinions,recommendations, or points of viewinvolved in a judicial process of publicservants, as long as the process is stillpending sentence, which shall bedocumented.

When the period of temporary restriction ofinformation is finished or when the causesthat originated the restriction of theinformation mentioned in Paragraphs III andIV of this Article have expired, the informationshould be made public, protecting only theconfidential information contained therein.

In case of severe violation of fundamentalrights or crimes against humanity theinformation found in the investigations maynot be deemed privileged.

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Article 15

Privileged information, according to Articles 13and 14, may remain as such for a period of up totwelve years. Said information may bedeclassified when the causes that originatedsaid characterization are terminated or whenthe reserve period has been completed. Theavailability of said information shall not beimpaired by whatever is stated in othercompelled laws.

The Institute, based upon the Regulations, orbased upon the office mentioned in Article 61,shall establish the classification criteria forprivileged or confidential information.

Exceptionally, compelled bodies may requestfrom the Institute or the office in question,based upon Article 61, an extension of thereserve period, as long as they are able to provethat the causes that originated the reserveperiod are still in existence.

Article 17

The administrative units shall create, every sixmonths and for each topic, a list including allthe files characterized as privileged orconfidential. Said list shall indicate theadministrative unit that generated theinformation, the date of the classification, thegrounds, the reserve period, or, if it is the case,those portions of the documents that areprivileged or confidential. This list shall neverbe deemed as privileged or confidentialinformation.

The principals of said department or entityshall take all necessary measures to ensurethe custody and conservation of privileged orconfidential files.

At any time, the Institute shall have access toprivileged or confidential information todetermine its correct classification,declassification or decision of granting accessto that piece of information.

Article 16

The principals of the administrative units shallbe responsible for the informationclassification in compliance with the criteriaestablished in this Law, its Regulation and theguidelines issued by the Institute or theequivalent office mentioned in Article 61,accordingly.

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FEDERALLAW

Article 18

The following information shall be deemed asconfidential information:

I. Any given as such by any person tocompelled bodies, based upon Article 19;and

II. Personal data that require the approval ofthe persons in order to be disclosed,distributed, or commercialized based uponthe terms of this Law.

The information found in public registries orsources that are publically available shall notbe deemed confidential.

Article 19

When the involved parties deliver to thecompelled bodies the information specified inParagraph I of the previous Article, they shallstate which documents contain confidential,reserved or commercially privilegedinformation, as long as they have the right toreserve said information and based uponapplicable provisions. In the case there is arequest for access to information thatcontains confidential information, thecompelled individuals shall disclose such,provided they have the approval of the ownerof said confidential information.

Chapter

Protection of Personal Data

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FEDERALLAW

Article 20

The compelled bodies shall be responsible for allpersonal data and they shall:

I. Adopt adequate procedures to receive andrespond requests for access and correction ofdata, as well as to train public servants andprovide information about the policies toprotect said data, based upon the guidelinesestablished for that purpose by the Instituteor by the equivalent office mentioned inArticle 61;

II. Use personal data only when adequate andnecessary for the purposes that were obtainedand they shall never abuse their use;

III. To give to interested parties, as soon aspersonal data is being collected, a documentin which the purposes of its use is established,based upon the guidelines established by theInstitute or by the equivalent officementioned in Article 61;

IV. Make sure that all personal data is exact andupdated;

V. Replace, rectify or complete, as a duty, allincorrect or inexact, either partial or totally,personal data as soon as they realize theexistence of said inaccuracies;

VI. Adopt all necessary measures to guaranteethe security of personal data and avoid itsalteration, loss,or unauthorized conveyance oraccess.

Article 21

Compelled bodies shall not be able to spread,distribute or commercialize personal datacontained in information systems developedfor the performance of their duties, unlessthere is an express approval, in writing or inany other similar manner, from the partieswhose information is being disclosed.

Article 22

In the following cases it shall not be necessaryto seek the approval of the owners of theinformation in order to disclose it:

I. DECREE. (Published in the Federal OfficialNewspaper on May 11th., 2004).

II. Information needed for statistical, scientificor other general purposes provided by Law,as long as said information is not related tothe personal data of the person to whomthe information belongs.

III. When the information is conveyed betweenthe compelled bodies or departments andentities, as long as the information is onlyused for the performance of their duties.

IV. When a court order is issued;

V. When given to third parties because theirservices are being hired and they need thepersonal data of the people involved. Saidthird parties may not use the personal data

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Article 23

The compelled bodies that have, for anyreason, personal data systems in theirpossession, shall inform the Institute or itsequivalent office mentioned in Article 61, whoshall keep an updated list of all personal datasystems.

Article 25

The interested parties or their representativesmay request, the Liaison Unit previouslyidentified, or its equivalent, to modify theinformation contained in the personal datasystem. For said purpose, the interested partyshall file a request of modification before theLiaison Unit or its equivalent, in which thepersonal data system in question and themodifications needed shall be stated,attached to all the documents that supportsaid request. The office shall give thepetitioner, within 30 days of the request, aletter certifying the carrying out of saidmodifications or, if it is the case, the reasonsfor which the information could not bemodified.

Article 26

The appeal mentioned in Article 50 may beused against a negative response to a requestfor modification or correction of personal data.Said appeal may also be used in case theresponse is not received within the periodsestablished in Article 24 and 25.

Article 24

Without prejudice of otherwise provided bylaw, only the interested parties or theirrepresentatives may request a Liason Unit orits equivalent previously identified, personaldata contained in their personal data systems.Said office shall deliver, within a period of tenworkdays from the date of the request, theinformation requested or, if it is the case, shallinform them, in writing, that said personaldata system does not contain the informationthey need.

The delivery of the personal data shall have nocost, and the interested party shall only pay forthe courier expenses based upon applicablerates. However, if that same person requests

further information about the same personaldata system within a period shorter thantwelve months from the date of the previousrequest, the cost shall be determined basedupon Article 27.

given to them for different purposes thanthose for which the information was given;

VI. In any other case provided by law.

Chapter

Fees

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Artículo 27

The fees to be paid in order to obtaininformation shall not exceed the amount of:

I. The cost of materials used in thereproduction of the information; and

II. The courier cost.

The applicable fees shall be established in theFederal Law of Fees.

All compelled bodies shall make their bestefforts in order to reduce the costs ofinformation delivery.

Chapter

Liaison Units andInformation Committees

PART TWOINFORMATION ACCESS IN THE FEDERAL EXECUTIVE POWER

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Article 28

The principals of each one of the departmentsor entities shall appoint a Liaison Unit whichshall have the following functions:

I. Collect and disseminate the informationmentioned in Article 7, furthermore, itshall encourage the administrative unitsto update said information periodically;

II. Receive and process the informationrequests, mentioned in Articles 24, 25 and40;

III. Assist interested parties in the creation ofrequests and, if necessary, give theminformation about the departments,entities or other bodies that may have thedata they need;

IV. Carry out all needed internal proceduresof each department or entity, in order todeliver requested information, and makeall necessary notifications as is needed;

V. Propose to the Committee internalprocedures that will ensure betterefficiency in the management of requestsfor access to information;

VI. Enable the number of public servants thatare necessary for each department orentity to receive and duely process therequests for access to information;

VII. Keep a record of all requests for access toinformation, and results and costs.

VIII.Any other action needed to guaranteeand facilitate information flow before thedepartment or entity and interestedparties.

Article 29

Each department or entity shall have aCommittee of Information which shall havethe following functions:

I. Coordination and supervision of allactions taken by the department or entityrelated to the granting of informationprovided by this Law;

II. Implementation, in compliance with theRegulations of the necessary proceduresto ensure the highest efficiency in theprocessing of requests for access toinformation;

III. Confirmation, modification or revoking ofthe information classification determinedby the principals of the administrativeunits of the department or entity;

IV. Performance, through the Liaison Unit, ofall necessary procedures to locate theadministrative documents whererequested information is located;

V. Implementation and supervision ofspecific classification criteria for thedepartment or entity, and the propermaintainance of all administrativedocuments, as well as, file organization,based upon the guidelines issued by theInstitute and by the National GeneralArchive, as applicable;

VI. Creation of a program in order to facilitatethe gathering of the information of thedepartment or entity, which shall beperiodically updated and which shallinclude all necessary steps to be followedin order to have an organized archive; and

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FEDERALLAW

Article 30

Each committee shall be formed by:

I. One public servant appointed by theprincipal of the department or entity;

II. The principal of the Liaison Unit; and

III. The principal of the internal control bodyof each department or entity.

The committee shall make their decision bymajority of votes.

Article 31

The Center of Investigation and NationalSecurity; the Drug Control Planning Center; theIntelligence Coordination Direction of thePreventive Federal Police; the Unit againstOrganized Crime;Presidential Secret Service; theSecret Service of the Army; the Secret Service ofthe Navy; or the administrative units in lieu ofthe above, shall not be subjected to theauthority of the Committees mentioned inArticle 29, and their functions are the soleresponsibility of the principal of eachadministrative unit.

Article 32

The National General Archive shall beresponsible for the creation, in coordinationwith the Institute, of the criteria to be used tocatalogue, characterize and handle administrative documents, as well as for theorganization of the archives of thedepartments or entities. Said criteria shall takeinto account international standards and bestpractices that already exist on thatmatter.

The principals of the departments and entities,based upon applicable provisions, shall makesure that the archives are functioningaccordingly. Furthermore, they shall create andmake available to the public a simple guideabout their cataloguing and classificationsystems, as well as the organization of thearchive.

VII. Create and send to the Institute, basedupon the guidelines of the same, allnecessary data for the creation of anannual report, as mentioned in Article 39.

Chapter

Federal Institute of Access toPublic Information (IFAI)

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FEDERALLAW

Article 33

The Federal Institute of Access to PublicInformation is a body that belongs to theFederal Public Administration. It has operative,budget and decision making autonomy, and itis the body in charge of promoting anddisseminate the use of the right of access toinformation; deciding if a request of access toinformation is accepted or denied; and,protecting all personal data under the custodyof the departments and entities.

Article 34

The Institute is formed by four commissioners,who shall be appointed by the FederalExecutive. The Chamber of Senators mayobject to said appointments by a majority ofvotes, and, when the chamber is in recess, thePermanent Commission shall have the samevoting right. In any case, the legislative officein question shall have thirty days to decide,and once that period has expired and noresolution has been issued, it shall be deemedas if there were no objection to theappointment made by the Federal Executive.

The commissioners should only be removedfrom their position if they have severelybreached the provisions contained in theConstitution and in this Law, if they havecarried out actions or omissions that have animpact in the Institute, or if they have beensentenced for a severe crime that deservescorporal punishment.

They shall remain in that position for a periodof seven years, they may not be reelected, andwhile in office, they may not hold another job,position or commission, except in educational,scientific or charitable institutions.

The resolutions issued by the Institute, shallnot be subordinated to any authority and itshall make its own decisions with fullindependence and shall have the human andmaterial resources needed for theperformance of its duties.

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Article 36

The Institute shall be chaired by aCommissioner, who shall be the legalrepresentative of the same. He or she shallremain in said position for a period of twoyears, and can be reelected once and shall beelected by the rest of the commissioners.

Article 37

The Institute shall have the following powers:

I. To interpret this Law, from theadministrative point of view, based uponArticle 6;

II. To know and decide on the appeals filedby the petitioners;

III. To establish and review the classification,declassification and custody criteria tobe used for privileged and confidentialinformation;

IV. To help the National General Archives inthe creation and use of the criteria forcataloguing and conservation ofdocuments, as well as in organizing thearchives of the departments andentities;

V. To supervise, and in case of non fulfill-ment, make recommendations to thedepartments or entities so that theprovisions of Article 7 are fulfilled;

VI. To help and advise the petitioners intheir requests to access information;

VII. To give technical support to thedepartments or entities in the creationand execution of their informationprograms as set forth in Paragraph VI ofArticle 29;

VIII. To create the forms to be completed forthe request of access to information, aswell as those to be used for access andcorrection of personal data;

IX. To establish guidelines and generalpolicies for the management,

Article 35

In order to be a commissioner it is necessaryto:

I. Be a Mexican citizen;

II. Have never been sentenced for theperpetration of a fraudulent crime;

III. Be at least thirty five years of age at thetime of the appointment;

IV. Have performed outstandingly inprofessional, public or academic activitiesrelated to the subject matter of this Law;and

V. Have not been secretary of state, head ofan administrative department, attorneygeneral, senator, federal or local deputy,head of a political party or association,governor of any state, head of governmentof the Federal District, within a period ofone year before the appointment.

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FEDERALLAW

maintenance, safety and protection ofpersonal data that are in the possessionof departments and entities;

X. To inform the internal control bodies ofeach department and entity, pursuantthe last paragraph of Article 56, ofprobable infractions of this Law and itsRegulations. The Institute shall benotified on any final resolution that theinternal control bodies issue on suchmatters, and that have already beendecreed, and the Institute shall makethem public by means of its annualreport;

XI. To create the guide mentioned in Article38;

XII. To promote and, if applicable, carry outthe training of public servants regardingaccess to information and protection ofpersonal data matters;

XIII. To spread among public servants and thegeneral public the benefits of publicmanagement of information, as well asits responsibility for the good use andconservation of the same;

XIV. To create and make public studies andinvestigations to disseminate and widenthe knowledge about the subject matterof this Law;

XV. To cooperate, regarding the subject mat-ter of this Law, with other compelledbodies, federal entities, municipalities orits other bodies of access to information,by entering agreements or programs;

XVI. To create its internal Regulations andother operational standards;

Article 38

The Institute shall create a guide describing, ina clear and simple manner, the procedures toaccess information that are to be followed bythe departments and entities.

Article 39

The Institute shall render an annual publicreport to the Hon. Congress about access toinformation, based upon the data supplied bythe departments and entities, according toArticles 29, Paragraph VII. Said report shallinclude, at least, the number of requests ofaccess to information filed before eachdepartment and entity, as well as the time ofreply, number and result of cases under care ofby the Institute, the current state of claimsfiled before the internal control bodies and theproblems encountered during the fulfillmentof the Law. For this purpose the Institute shallissue guidelines that it considers necessary.

XVII. To appoint the public servants under itscharge;

XVIII.To prepare an annual budget plan, whichshall be sent to the Tax Ministry in orderto be included in the Federal Budget ofExpenditure; and

XIX. Any other power conferred by this Law,its Regulations and any other applicableprovision.

Chapter

Access Procedure beforethe Department or Entity

37

FEDERALLAW

Article 40

Article 41

Any person, or his/her representative may file,before the Liaison Unit, a request for access toinformation by means of a personal writtendocument or by means of the forms that havebeen approved by the Institute. Said requestshall include:

I. Petitioner’s name and domicile or addresswhere the petitioner may be notified, suchas e-mail; and the personal data of thepetitioner’s representative, if applicable;

II. Clear and precise description of thedocuments being requested;

III. Any other piece of information that couldfacilitate its location; and

IV. The way in which the access to theinformation should be given is optional:this can be done verbally as long as it isonly for consultation purposes or directconsultation, or simple or certified copiesor a different type of means.

If the information supplied by the petitioner isnot enough to locate the documents or if suchinformation is incorrect, the Liaison Unit may,only once and within a ten day period after thepresentation of the request, ask the petitionerto give more information or to correct theoriginal information. This prerequisite shallinterrupt the term mentioned in Article 44.

The Liaison Unit will help the petitioners incompleting requests for access toinformation, especially in cases in which thepetitioner is illiterate. In the case that therequested information does not belong to thedepartment or entity to which it was

The Liaison Unit shall be the bridge betweenthe department or entity and the petitioner,since it is the body responsible for carrying outthe notifications mentioned in this Law.Furthermore, it shall perform all necessaryprocedures in the department or entity inorder to facilitater the access to information.

requested, the Liaison Unit shall duly advisethe petitioner as to which department orentity is the correct one.

If the request has been filed before anadministrative unit other than the LiaisonUnit, the administrative unit shall advise thepetitioner of the physical address of thecorresponding Liaison Unit.

Under no circumstance, can the informationdelivery be conditioned on the statement ofthe reason for requesting it and neither shallit be necessary to prove the reason for interestin the information.

Article 42

The departments and entities shall only beobliged to deliver those documents that theyhave in their files. The obligation of grantingaccess to information shall be deemedcovered when the documents requested havebeen made available to the petitioner; or, bythe issuance of simple or certified copies orany other means.

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Article 43

The Liaison Unit shall submit the request tothe administrative unit that has or could havethe information, with location, andclassification ratification, after which it willinform the Liaison Unit on the access methodand availability, in order to determine the cost,if applicable.

The administrative units may deliverdocuments with information classified asprivileged or confidential, as long as it ispossible to delete or eliminate the privileged orconfidential portions in said documents. Insuch cases, those eliminated portions shall besummarized.

Article 44

The answer to the request shall be given to thepetitioner as early as possible, and it shall nottake longer than twenty workdays from thedate the request was filed. Furthermore, thecost and manner in which the information isgoing to be delivered should be stated, payingclose attention to the preferences stated in therequest. Exceptionally, this term can beextended, up to twenty more workdays, aslong as there are justifying reasons and thoseare provided to the petitioner.

The information shall be delivered within tenworkdays after the date in which the LiaisonUnit notified the availability of the same, andas long as the petitioner shows evidence ofhaving paid the corresponding fees.

The Regulations shall establish the mannerand terms in which the requests of access toinformation shall be handled internally.

Access shall only be delivered in the manner inwhich the document in question allows it tobe done, however, it shall be submitted eithertotal or partially, according to the request.

In the case that the requested informationhas already been made available to thegeneral public in hard copies, such as books,outlines, brochures, public files, availableelectronic formats, Internet, or any othermethod, the source of the information shallbe supplied in writing, as well as the place andmanner in which it can be accessed,reproduced or acquired.

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FEDERALLAW

Article 45

In case the principal of the administrative unithas classified the documents as privileged orconfidential, the request shall be immediatelyreturned to the Committee of the departmentor entity in question, along with an officialdocument stating the reasons for theclassification, and the Committee itself mustdecide if:

I. The classification is confirmed or modified,and thereby denying access to saidinformation; or

II. The classification is revoked, therebygranting access to said information.

The Committee may have access to thedocuments found in the administrative unit.The resolution made by the Committee shallbe submitted to the interested party withinthe term set forth in Article 44. In the case of anegative resolution, the Committee shall statethe reasons and groundings for the decisionand advise the petitioner what recourse maybe used.

Article 46

When the documents are not found in thearchives of the administrative unit, said unitshall send the request, along with an officialletter, to the Committee. The Committee shallanalyze the case and shall take all necessarysteps to locate, in the department or entity, therequested document and shall decideaccordingly. In case the document is not found,it shall issue a certification stating the nonexistence of said document and shall notifythe petitioner, by means of the Liaison Unit,and within the term described in Article 44.

Article 47

All requests for access to information and replies,including, if applicable, the informationdelivered, shall be public. Furthermore, thedepartments and entities shall make availablethis information to the general public, wheneverpossible, by remote means or local electronicones.

Article 48

Liaison Units are not obligated to handleoffensive requests for access to information,when they have already delivered identicalinformation to the same petitioner, or when theinformation is already public. In these cases, itshall only remind the petitioner as to where theinformation can be found.

Chapter

Procedings beforethe Institute

41

FEDERALLAW

Article 49

Any petitioner who has been notified, bymeans of a resolution of the Committee, of thedenial to access information or thenon-existence of the requested documents,may file, by themselves or through arepresentative, an appeal before the Instituteor before the Liaison Unit that heard the case,within a period of fifteen workdays from thedate of said notification. The Liaison Unit shallturn the case over to the Institute on the dayfollowing its reception.

Article 51

The appeal provided in Articles 49 and 50 shallalso replace the one mentioned in Article 83 ofthe Federal Law of Administrative Procedures.

Article 52

The Institute shall correct any deficienciesfound in the appeals filed by the interestedparties.

Article 53

The absence of reply to a request for access toinformation within the term set forth in Article44 shall be deemed as a positive one, and thedepartment or entity shall be obliged to grantaccess to the information within 10 workdays,and shall pay for all the expenses resulting fromthe reproduction of the material, unless theInstitute determines that the documents areprivileged or confidential.

In order to fully comply with the provisions ofthe first paragraph of this Article, the Regulationshall implement an expedited procedure tocorrect those non-compliances from thedepartments and agencies regardinginformation delivery. For this effect, individualscan either present the evidence referred to inArticle 17 of the Federal Law of AdministrativeProcedures issued by the corresponding LiaisonUnit, or either it shall be sufficient to present

Article 50

The appeal may also be filed if:

I. The department or entity does not deliver tothe petitioner the personal data requested,or does it in an incomprehensible format;

II. The department or entity refuses to makemodifications or corrections to personaldata;

III.The petitioner does not agree with the time,cost or manner of delivery; or

IV.The petitioner considers that theinformation delivered is incomplete or doesnot correspond to the information describedin the request.

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Article 54

The appeal-making document shall include:

I. The department or entity before which therequest was filed;

II. The name of the petitioner and the thirdinterested party, if applicable, as well as theaddress or means by which the petitionershall receive notifications;

III. The date of the notification or when thepetitioner knew about the contested act;

IV. The act that is being contested and the listof petitions;

V. A copy of the contested resolution, and ifapplicable, the corresponding notification;and

VI. Any other element deemed as important tobe filed before the Institute.

Article 55

Unless otherwise stated in Article 53, theInstitute shall litigate the appeal based uponthe following guidelines:

I. Once the appeal has been filed, the Presidentof the Institute shall send it to the PresenterCommissioner, who shall, within thirtyworkdays after the filing of the appeal,integrate the file and present a resolutiondraft to all the members of the Institute;

II. All the members of the Institute shalldetermine when the hearings with theparties shall be discharged;

III. During the proceeding, the burden-of-proofshall be applied in favor of the appellant,making sure that the parties are able to file,orally or in writing, the grounds andmotivations for their arguments, and it shallallow them to file their allegations;

IV. Initiatives and letters can be receivedelectronically by means of a request madeby the interested party;

V. All Institute members shall definitelyresolve, within twenty workdays from thepresentation of the resolution draft; and

VI. The resolutions made by all the Institutemembers shall be public.

When there is justified cause, all Institutemembers can increase, only once and up to anequal period of time, those terms set forth inParagraphs I and V of this Article.

All privileged or confidential information which,if applicable, is requested by the Institutebecause it is indispensable for the resolution ofthe case,should be maintained as such and shallnot be available in the file.

copy of the original request, showing the dateon which it was filed before the department orentity. In this latter case, the procedure willinsure that they have the opportunity todemonstrate their timely and proper reply tothe petitioner.

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FEDERALLAW

Article 56

The resolutions of the Institute can:

I. Reject the appeal because it is contrary tolaw or supersedes it;

II. Confirm the decision of the Committee; or

III. Revoke or modify the decisions of theCommittee and recquire the department orentity to allow the interested party toaccess the requested information orpersonal data; the information should beeither re-classified or modified.

The resolutions, which should be in writing,shall state the time limit for their complianceand the procedures to insure their execution.

If the Institute does not resolve within thetime limit established in this Law, thecontested resolution shall be deemed asconfirmed.

When the Institute determines, during thecourse of the procedure, that a public servantcould have failed in their duties, the Instituteshould make it known to the internal controlbody of the department or entity in question,so that if applicable, it the correspondingprocedings can be initiated.

Article 57

The appeal shall be rejected on the basis that itis contrary to law when:

I. It is presented after the time limit stated inArticle 49;

II. The Institute was already aware of therespective appeal and had already resolvedit definitely;

III. A resolution that has not been issued bythe Committee is contested; or

IV. An appeal or means of defense has beenfiled by the appellant before the courts ofthe Federal Judicial Power.

Article 58

The appeal shall be superseded when:

I. The appellant expressly withdraws theappeal;

II. The appellant should die or, in the case of acorporation, it is dissolved;

III. When the objection has been admitted,and there appears an unlawful motiveunder the terms of the present law; or

IV. The department or entity responsible forthe act or resolution which was contestedmodifies or revokes it, and the appeal is nulland void.

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Article 59

The resolutions of the Institute shall bedefinitive for the departments and entities.The petitioners can appeal before the JudicialPower of the Federation.

The courts shall have access to privileged orconfidential information when it isindispensable for the resolution of the matterand it has been used in a trial. Saidinformation should be maintained as such andshall not be available in the judicial file.

Article 60

The affected petitioner can request before theInstitute to reconsider a resolution once a yearhas elapsed from the date on which theInstitute issued the resolution confirming thedecision of a Committee;

Said reconsideration must refer to the samerequest and must be resolved within amaximum of 60 days.

Chapter One

PART THREEACCESS TO INFORMATION FOR OTHER COMPELLED BODIES

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Article 61

Article 62

The Federal Legislative Power, through theChamber of Senators, the Chamber of Deputies,the Permanent Commission, the FederalSuperior Auditing Office, Judicial Power of theFederation through the Supreme Court of Justiceof the Nation, Council of the Federal Judicature,the Administration Commission of the FederalElectoral Tribunal, the autonomousconstitutional bodies and the administrativetribunals, within their respective competence,shall establish by means of rules or agreementsof a general character, the bodies, criteria andinstitutional procedures to make available accessto information to the people, in compliance withthe principles and time limits established in thisLaw.

The issued provisions shall indicate, asapplicable:

I. The administrative units responsible forpublishing the information referred to inArticle 7;

II. The Liaison Units or their equivalents;

III. The Information Committee or its equivalent;

IV. The classification and maintenance criteriaand procedures for privileged or confidentialinformation;

V. The procedure for access to the information,including appeals, pursuant Article 49 and50, and one of reconsideration under theterms of Article 60;

VI. The procedures for access and correction ofthe personal data referred to in Article 24 and25; and

The compelled bodies referred to in the previousArticle shall render a yearly public report onthose activities carried out to guarantee theaccess to information, following the guidelinesset forth in Article 39, of which a copy is to besent to the Institute.

VII.An internal unit responsible for enforcing theLaw, for resolvings appeals and other powersgranted by this ordinance.

PART FOURRESPONSIBILITIES AND SANCTIONS

Chapter One

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Article 63

Article 64

The following shall be causes ofadministrative misconduct of public servants,due to non fulfillment of the obligations setforth in this Law:

I. To use, remove, destroy, hide, disable,divulge, or alter, totally or partially, and inan undue manner, information which isunder their custody, and to which theyhave access or knowledge due to their job,position or commission;

II. To act with negligence, deceit or bad faithin the substantiation of the requests foraccess to information or propagation ofinformation to which they are obligedaccording to this Law;

III. To intentionally deny non-privileged ornon-confidential information as if it wereprivileged or confidential, according to theLaw;

IV. To deceitfully classified as privileged, anyinformation that does not fulfill thecharacteristics described in this Law. Thesanction will only be procedural whenthere is a previous resolution by theCommittee, the Institute, or equivalentinstance, regarding the classificationcriteria of this type of information as setforth in Article 61;

V. To deliver information considered asprivileged or confidential in compliancewith the provisions of this Law;

VI. To intentionally deliver the informationdescribed in a request for access in anincomplete manner; and

The administrative misconduct generated bythe non fulfillment of the obligations referredto in the previous Article, are independent ofthose applicable of civil or penal order.

VII.To fail to provide the information when itsdisclosure has been ordered by the bodiesreferred to in previous Paragraph VI of thisArticle or by the Judicial Power of theFederation.

The misconduct referred to in this Article or inany other, derived from the non compliance ofthe obligations set forth in this Law, shall besanctioned under the terms of the FederalLaw of Administrative Responsibilities ofPublic Servants.

The violation stated in Paragraph VII orrecurrence of the conduct mentioned inParagraphs I to VI of this Article, shall beconsidered severe for effects of itsadministrative sanction.

TRANSITORIES

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First. This Law shall be in force the day after itspublication in the Federal Official Newspaper,with the formalities described in thefollowing Articles.

Second. The publication of the informationreferred to in Article 7 must be carried out, atthe latest, one year after the Law is in full forceand effect.

Third. The principals of the departments andentities of Public Federal Administrationshould designate the Liaison Units and themembers of the Committees referred to inthis Law, at the latest, six months after thisordinance is in force, and their functions are tobegin simultaneously. Furthermore, theymust notify the Comptroller’s andAdministrative Development Ministry, whichmust publish the list of the Liaison Units inthe Federal Official Newspaper. The creationof the structures referred to in this provisionshould be done with the allocated human,material and budget resources; therefore,they should not imply additional expenses.

Fourth. The compelled bodies referred to inArticle 61 should publish the correspondingprovisions, at the latest one year after the Lawis in full force and effect.

Fifth. The designation of the first fivecommissioners must be made three monthsafter the Law is in force, at the latest. Duringthe exercise of first period, threecommissioners shall conclude their position infour years, and can be ratified for a new periodof 7 years. The Executive shall indicate in his

designation the exercise period for eachCommissioner.

Sixth. The Federal Executive shall issue theRegulations of this Law within the year after itcomes in full force and effect.

Seventh. The Institute shall issue its internalbylaws within the year after the Law came infull force and effect.

Eighth. The interested parties can presenttheir requests for access to information or foraccess and correction of personal data oneyear after the Law is in full force and effect.

Ninth. Except for what is provided in Article53, Article 17 of the Federal Law forAdministrative Procedures is not applicable tothe present Law.

Tenth. The compelled bodies should, at thelatest on the 1st of January, 2005, completethe organization and functioning of theiradministrative files, as well as the publicationof the guide referred to in Article 32.

Eleventh. The Federal Budget of Expenditurefor 2003 should establish the correspondingbudget estimate in order to allow theadequate integration and functioning of theInstitute.

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FEDERALLAW

In fulfillment of what is provided by Paragraph I of Article 89 of the Political Constitution of the

United Mexican States, and for its due publication and observance, I issue this Decree at the

Residence of the Federal Executive Power, in Mexico City, Federal District, on the tenth day of the

month of June of the year two thousand and two.- Vicente Fox Quesada.- A flourish.- Government

Ministry, Santiago Creel Miranda.- A flourish.

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