Article 102 Political Constitution of the United Mexican States

A.The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office shall be organized in an Office of the Attorney General of the Republic as an autonomous public body, endowed with legal personality and its own assets.

For a person to be the head of the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic, it is required: to be a Mexican citizen by birth, in the exercise of his or her rights; to be at least thirty-five years of age completed on the day of the appointment; to hold, with a minimum seniority of ten years, a professional bachelor's degree in law; to enjoy a good reputation, and not to have been convicted for the commission of an intentional crime (dolo).

The Attorney General shall hold office for nine years, and shall be appointed and removed in accordance with the following:

I.From the definitive absence of the Attorney General, the Senate shall have twenty days to integrate a list of at least ten candidates for the position, approved by two thirds of the members present, which it shall send to the Federal Executive.

If the Executive does not receive the list within the term indicated above, it shall freely send the Senate a slate of three and shall provisionally appoint the Attorney General, who shall exercise his or her functions until the definitive appointment is made in accordance with the provisions of this article. In this case, the Attorney General appointed may form part of the slate of three.

II.Upon receipt of the list referred to in the preceding section, within the following ten days the Executive shall formulate a slate of three and shall send it for the consideration of the Senate.

III.The Senate, based on the slate of three and after the appearance of the proposed persons, shall appoint the Attorney General with the vote of two thirds of the members present within the term of ten days.

In the event that the Executive does not send the slate of three referred to in the preceding section, the Senate shall have ten days to appoint the Attorney General from among the candidates on the list indicated in section I.

If the Senate does not make the appointment within the terms established in the preceding paragraphs, the Executive shall appoint the Attorney General from among the candidates who make up the list or, as the case may be, the respective slate of three.

IV.The Attorney General may be removed by the Federal Executive for the serious causes established by law. The removal may be objected to by the vote of the majority of the members present of the Senate within a term of ten business days, in which case the Attorney General shall be restored in the exercise of his or her functions. If the Senate does not rule on the matter, it shall be understood that there is no objection.

V.During the recesses of the Senate, the Permanent Commission (Comisión Permanente) shall immediately convene it to extraordinary sessions for the appointment or formulation of objection to the removal of the Attorney General.

VI.The absences of the Attorney General shall be supplied in the terms determined by law.

It corresponds to the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office to prosecute, before the courts, all crimes of the federal order; and, for the same reason, it shall request precautionary measures against the accused; it shall seek and present the evidence that proves their participation in acts that the laws designate as crimes; it shall endeavor that federal criminal proceedings be followed with all regularity so that the administration of justice is prompt and expeditious; it shall request the application of the penalties, and shall intervene in all matters determined by law.

The Office of the Attorney General shall have, at least, the specialized prosecutor's offices in matters of electoral crimes and of combating corruption, whose heads shall be appointed and removed by the Attorney General of the Republic. The appointment and removal of the aforementioned specialized prosecutors may be objected to by the Senate by the vote of two thirds of the members present, within the term fixed by law; if the Senate does not rule within this term, it shall be understood that it has no objection.

The law shall establish the bases for the training and updating of the public officials of the Office of the Attorney General, as well as for the development of their professional career, which shall be governed by the principles of legality, objectivity, efficiency, professionalism, honesty and respect for human rights.

The Attorney General shall annually present to the Legislative and Executive Branches of the Union a report of activities. He or she shall appear before either of the Chambers when cited to render accounts or to report on his or her administration.

The Attorney General of the Republic and his or her agents shall be responsible for any fault, omission or violation of the law that they incur by reason of their functions.

B.The Congress of the Union and the legislatures of the states (federal entities), within the scope of their respective competences, shall establish bodies for the protection of the human rights that the Mexican legal order upholds, which shall hear complaints against acts or omissions of an administrative nature coming from any authority or public official, with the exception of those of the Federal Judiciary, that violate these rights.

The bodies referred to in the preceding paragraph shall formulate public, non-binding recommendations, denunciations and complaints before the respective authorities. Every public official is obliged to respond to the recommendations presented by these bodies. When the recommendations issued are not accepted or complied with by the authorities or public officials, they must state the grounds and reasons for and make public their refusal; moreover, the Senate or, during its recesses, the Permanent Commission (Comisión Permanente), or the legislatures of the states (federal entities), as applicable, may summon, at the request of these bodies, the responsible authorities or public officials to appear before said legislative bodies, in order that they explain the reason for their refusal.

These bodies shall not be competent in the case of electoral and jurisdictional matters.

The body that the Congress of the Union establishes shall be called the National Human Rights Commission (Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos); it shall have management and budgetary autonomy, legal personality and its own assets.

The Constitutions of the states (federal entities) shall establish and guarantee the autonomy of the bodies for the protection of human rights.

The National Human Rights Commission shall have an Advisory Council (Consejo Consultivo) composed of ten counselors who shall be elected by the vote of two thirds of the members present of the Senate or, during its recesses, by the Permanent Commission of the Congress of the Union, with the same qualified vote. The law shall determine the procedures to be followed for the presentation of the proposals by the Chamber itself. Annually the two counselors with the greatest seniority in the position shall be replaced, unless they were proposed and ratified for a second period.

The President of the National Human Rights Commission, who shall also be the President of the Advisory Council, shall be elected in the same terms of the preceding paragraph. He or she shall hold office for five years, may be reelected only once and may only be removed from his or her functions in the terms of Title Four of this Constitution.

The election of the head of the presidency of the National Human Rights Commission, as well as of the members of the Advisory Council, and of the heads of the bodies for the protection of human rights of the states (federal entities), shall conform to a procedure of public consultation, which must be transparent, in the terms and conditions determined by law.

The President of the National Human Rights Commission shall annually present to the Branches of the Union a report of activities. For that purpose he or she shall appear before the Chambers of the Congress in the terms provided by law.

The National Human Rights Commission shall hear the disagreements presented in relation to the recommendations, agreements or omissions of the equivalent bodies in the states (federal entities).

The National Human Rights Commission may investigate facts that constitute serious violations of human rights, when it deems it convenient or when the Federal Executive, either of the Chambers of the Congress of the Union, the heads of the executive branches of the states (federal entities) or their Legislatures so request.