Mexico: Lower House Approves Bill on the Right to Consultation

Mexico's Lower House on Tuesday approved a bill to institutionalize prior consultation with Indigenous peoples and Black communities on administrative and legislative projects that might affect their rights.

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Indigenous Affairs Commission President Irma Carlos presented the initiative to debate after previous discussions in subcommittee commissions on April 13. The bill was passed with 466 votes in favor, zero against, and three abstentions.

"The lack of regulatory legislation on the right to the consultation has significantly harmed the rights, heritage, security, and identity of Indigenous peoples and communities... As a result, Indigenous people have had to resort to the courts to assert their rights," the Law of Consultation reads. 

Currently, there are at least 25 million Mexicans who consider themselves part of an Indigenous community.

Lawmakers from the Citizen Movement, the National Action Party (PAN), and the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) rejected the bill by claiming it was approved without the budget for its implementation. The law, however, obliges all the states to allocate resources for applying the new norm in their territories. 

The Law of Consultation harmonizes domestic regulations with international standards and treaties such as Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The Lower House sent the initiative to the Senate for analysis and approval. For the elaboration of the law, lawmakers held ten consultation forums with expert assistance.