Lunchtime Seminar: Damage Liability of the Government arising from unconstitutional tax law
A talk by Professor Dra. Gabriela R铆os Granados from Law's NACLE partner UNAM. This is the first of four lunchtime seminars organized jointly by LALSA (the Latin American Legal Studies Association) and the Faculty of Law鈥檚 Grupo Hispano.
The presentation will be in Spanish; the question and answer session will be trilingual.
A light lunch and refreshments will be served.
Abstract
Mexico's reform proposals regarding the amparo action (an action alleging an infringement of fundamental rights and freedoms) aim to reconfigure the effects of rulings in amparo cases.
Until now, when judges hearing an amparo case have ruled in favour of the claimant, the ruling has applied retroactively and with the aim of making the wronged party whole. The proposals, however, would be make it impossible to obtain a tax refund for taxes paid on the basis of unconstitutional laws, contrary to the historically backward-looking and restorative nature of the amparo.
In this essay the author examines property damage liability of the government, discussing its juridical nature and analyzing its constitutional regulation within Mexico's legal framework.
The author argues that the proposed reforms to the amparo will block the taxpayer who pays taxes under unconstitutional laws from recovering her payment, and thus it is important to consider whether she can recover such a payment under the head of governmental liability for property damage.