On october 16, 2025, a decree was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation amending and adding several provisions to the Amparo Law, the Federal Tax Code and the Organic Law of the Federal Court of Administrative Justice.
As to the changes specified in the note published by our associate Mr. David Almeida Madrid, these changes remained intact after reviewing the decree.
What opened the discussion regarding this decree is the figure of Retroactivity found in the Third Article of the Transitory Provisions, which is worded as follows:
“As this is a procedural law, the concluded procedural stages that generate acquired rights will be governed by the legal provisions in force at the beginning of the respective proceedings.”
“As regards procedural proceedings subsequent to the entry into force of this Decree, in accordance with the doctrine and jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, they will be governed by the provisions of this Decree, without implying retroactive application or affecting acquired rights, since these are future proceedings.”
In principle, the decree recognizes the procedural nature of the Amparo Law and intends to apply the reform immediately to ongoing lawsuits only with respect to proceedings occurring after its entry into force, leaving aside concluded stages that have already generated acquired rights. However, this immediate application could have disguised retroactive effects by modifying the legal conditions of proceedings initiated under the previous law.
On the one hand, it is very clear that in the case of future procedural stages (those initiated after the entry into force of the Decree) they will be subject to the new law; however, what happens with all those ongoing legal situations originated under the previous law? When the legal entity already had a legitimate expectation to litigate under the laws in force at the time of initiating its lawsuit.
Although the procedural laws apply immediately, they cannot alter the legal consequences of an ongoing process without the consent of the parties; however, the transitory provision gives judges the flexibility to determine at what stage of the process retroactivity applies or not.
Arturo Zaldívar, general coordinator of Policy and Government of the Federal Executive defended the reform, assuring that this decree does not seek to restrict the rights of individuals, nor does it seek to affect access to justice, but rather, that it seeks to “make the amparo trial a more agile, modern instrument in accordance with the needs of the country”.
Some risks that this decree opens up are:
- Ongoing proceedings could be reframed under new rules of admission or suspension.
- Changes in deadlines, effects of sentencing or jurisdiction could alter strategies already designed.
- Gray areas on what constitutes an “acquired right” versus “expectation of right”.
Based on the above, it is recommended to identify the procedural status of lawsuits or administrative proceedings, the court in which they are pending and the existence of final resolutions; to determine whether there is an acquired right or whether the process is in a phase of expectation, so that, in this way, the impact on defense strategies and regulatory compliance can also be identified.
It is essential that the legal and compliance areas identify the processes that could generate contingencies, so, in effect of specific consultation on the impact of this reform in specific cases, we remain at your disposal.
