REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND PERSONAL DATA

TRANSPARENCY,

GOVERNING BODY

Federal Institute for Access to Public Information (IFAI)Av. México 151, Col. Del Carmen Coyoacán, C.P. 04100, Delegación Coyoacán, México D.F.First Edition, IFAI, August 2004ISBN: 968-5954-06-2

Printed in Mexico

María Marván LabordePRESIDENT COMMISSIONER

Horacio Aguilar Álvarez de Alba

COMMISSIONER

Alonso Gómez RobledoVerduzco

COMMISSIONER

José Octavio López PresaCOMMISSIONER

Edition in charge of:

General Directorate of Attention to Society and Institutional Relations

General Directorate of Social Communication

Translation in charge of:General Directorate of Research and Studies

Ángel Trinidad ZaldívarEXECUTIVE SECRETARY

Juan Pablo Guerrero AmparánCOMMISSIONER

Francisco Ciscomani FreanerSECRETARY OF RESOLUTIONS

CONTENTS

Appendix ATransparency Obligations

Appendix BTerms and Cost

Introduction

Federal Law of Transparencyand Access to Public Government Information

Regulations for the Federal Law on Transparency and Access to Public Government Information

Decree of Creation of theFederal Institute of Accessto Public Information

p.11

p.53

p.103

p.7

Access Guide to PublicGovernment Information p.109

p.127

p.133

7

INTRODUCTION

The Federal Institute of Access to PublicInformation (IFAI) presents this first edition ofthe regulatory framework that governs theright of access to government publicinformation in Mexico.

It is an indispensable document for those whodesire to study, understand, and especially, toexercise a fundamental right of modern life.

This right is developed and deployed in twoessential dimensions. The first one derivesfrom a democratic demand: that thegovernment becomes a truly public space, foreverybody without regard to privileges orstation. The second one, from a civil demand:for a society and State capable of strictrespect for personal data.

As of June 12, 2003, the Federal Law ofTransparency and Access to GovernmentPublic Information forces the government toopen its files. Now, every petitioner canrequest any document containing public

information from any federal institution, andto obtain it in a fast and simple manner. Withthis law, the Mexican government is require tosubmit information on its performance, theuse of public resources and their results.Individuals can use all public information tobetter evaluate their government. In thismanner, transparency contributes to thereduction of impunity and corruption.

In certain cases, defined by the Law asexceptions, the information under the custodyof the Federal Government is privileged or confidential. For example, it is consideredprivileged when its disclosure jeopardizesnational security or the life of any individual.Furthermore, the concept of confidentialinformation is related to personal data,disclosure of which would undermine theright of privacy of individuals.

The new legislation was passed in 2002, as aresult of the participation of civil society whosubmitted their own initiative to the

8

Congress. The Executive along with thelegislators, also participated in its creationand it passed unanimously.

The Law created the IFAI as an independentorganization with the necessary autonomyand authority to enforce the Law, reviewthose cases in which the authorities denyaccess to information and determine whetherthe requested information is public, privilegedor confidential.

Subsequently, the IFAI is putting thisdocument which contains the folowingsubjects:

• The Federal Law of Transparency and Accessto Government Public Information;

• The regulations of the Law, applicable toFederal Public Administration departmentsand entities;

• The Decree that created the IFAI;• The Access to Information Guide, a

document created by the IFAI –and orderedby the Law– whose objective is to clearlyexplain the avenues that have been createdto access information, and personal data, aswell as correct inaccurate personal data;

• Printed samples of filled-out informationrequest forms, especially detailing each ofthe steps, costs, and terms involved, is alsoincluded.

* * *The Federal Law of Transparency offers fastand clear channels with which to exercise theRight of Access to Information, withoutrestrictions, by anyone, and from any place–either through the Internet, by mail orpersonally at the Liason Units– for any desiredpurposes. Neither the Law nor the IFAI canprejudge the juridical status of the individualsor their intentions as petitioners, though theIFAI it must try to characterize suchinformation: should the governmentinformation be public, then anybody can haveit.

The enactment of this Law and its associatedlegal framework represent a qualitative leapin the democratic construction of the country,because its essential subject no longer alludesto the forms of access to power and thenational representation, but to thedemocratic quality of the exercise of the

9

INTRODUCTION

COMMISSIONERS:

María Marván Laborde (PRESIDENT COMMISSIONER)Horacio Aguilar Álvarez de AlbaAlonso Gómez Robledo VerduzcoJuan Pablo Guerrero AmparánJosé Octavio López Presa

power. The Federal Law of Transparency is a“second generation” democratic reform,where the subjects of the type of government,the state of rights and accountability areplaced on the front and center for the benefitof governed.

We believe that the legislation contains aregulatory framework the consequences ofwhich will be experienced almostimmediately, though especially in the shortterm, as it will generate a significant amountof change in the existing relationshipbetween society and State, because now everydecision, every omission, every actionundertaken by public officers (institutional,administrative, budge-tary, political, etc.) shallbe subject to the scrutiny of any individual atany time. Dozens, hundreds and eventhousands of observers will be attentive andwill have all the necessary tools to requestsuch information, thereby creating a new,demanding context for all public officers ofMexico

At the same time, the Law of Transparency wilprovide for a better informed public discourse,

as it will be supported by commoninformation and accessible to everybody, by areadely available, documented, and filedofficial data, in order to make judgments,state an opinion or to make a better informeddecision.

Access to information, transparency,accountability, personal data protection, andthe right to privacy are now on-going topics.They are inevitably a part of the current andfuture agenda of Mexico, to the benefit of itspolitics and culture.

10

11

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

14

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.

15

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

18

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.

19

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.

22

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.

23

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

25

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

26

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

28

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

30

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

31

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)

33

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.

34

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.

35

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.

38

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.

39

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.

42

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.

43

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.

44

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

46

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

48

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

50

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.

51

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.

52

53

REGULATIONS OF THEFEDERAL LAWOF TRANSPARENCY ANDACCES TO PUBLICGOVERNMENTINFORMATIONPublished in the Federal Official Newspaper of June 11, 2003

GeneralProvisions

Chapter

55

REGULATIONS

These regulations have the purpose ofregulating the provisions set forth in theFederal Law of Transparency and Access toPublic Government Information, regardingthe Federal Executive Power, its departmentsand entities and, generally, any otherorganization that is part of the Federal PublicAdministration.

Article 1

Petitioners can request from the departmentsand entities hard copies of the informationavailable to the public by electronic means. Forsuch effects, the departments and entities willobserve the provisions set forth in Article 9 ofthis Code.

Article 3

Aside from the definitions contained in Article3 of the Federal Law of Transparency andAccess to Public Government Information, forthe effects of these regulations, the conceptslisted below shall be understood as follows:

I. Classification: Action by which it isdetermined that the information underthe care of a department or entity isprivileged or confidential;

II. File: a set of documents;

III. Guidelines: those administrative acts witha general character issued by the FullInstitute and which have mandatoryobservance;

IV. Publication: the reproduction by electronicor printed means of the informationcontained in documents to be disclosed tothe public;

V. Recommendations: opinions, proposals,suggestions, comments and other actsissued by the Institute;

Article 2

VI. Public resources: human, financial andmaterial resources available to adepartment, entity or any other federalorganization and that is used toaccomplish its objectives and producegoods, or provide services within itscompetence; and

VII. Enabled public servants: Public servantscapable of receiving and processingrequests for access to information,personal data and their correction, inadministrative units other than the LiaisonUnit of a department or entity.

56

The departments and entities can establishcollaboration mechanisms with each other orwith the Institute to fulfill the obligations setforth in the Law, this Regulation and theguidelines issued by the Institute, particularlyregarding transparency obligations,procedures for the access to information,personal data and its correction, as well as forthe implementation and operation of theLiaison Units and Committees.

Article 5

The Institute will issue the necessary guidelinesand recommendations to ensure and promotethe fulfillment of the Law and this Regulation.

Article 6

The Federal Law of Administrative Proceduresshall be applied as a supporting law in all ofthat is not against the Law.

Article 7

Newly created departments and entities willhave a term of six months from the date oftheir creation, pursuant to the correspondingjuridical instrument, to comply with theobligations stated in the Law, this Regulationand the guidelines issued by the Institute. Inthe case of mergers, the combined entity mustcomply with the obligations that correspondto those that were merged.

Article 4

Chapter

Transparency Obligations

58

Departments and entities must makeavailable to the public all informationcontained in article 7, according to thefollowing:

I. Each department and/or entity LiaisonUnit shall be responsible for the publicavailability of the information;

II. The information must be readily availablefrom a general public accessible Internetwebsite, visible from the department orentity’s website homepage, indicating itsupdate date, as well the Internet link tothe Institute.

III. The information must be presented in aclear and complete manner, insuring itsquality, truthfulness, opportunity andreliability; and

IV. The same Internet websites must providethe electronic addresses, postal addressesand telephone numbers of the LiaisonUnity, the names of the enabled publicofficers and the name of the individualresponsible for the mentioned site.

Information referred to in Article 7 of the Lawcan be classified pursuant Articles 26 and 27of this Regulation.

Article 8 Article 9

All departments and entities must create aphysical area and appoint the necessarypersonnel to address and direct the publicregarding access to information matters.Computers with access to the Internet mustbe available within this same space, so thatpetitioners can access the informationpublished in the corresponding departmentor entity website, as well as to promoteelectronically the requests hereby referred to.Furthermore, necessary printing equipmentmust be therein available in order to allow theusers to print the desired information, asfound in the mentioned Internet site.

Article 10

Departments and entities shall update theinformation included in Article 7 of the Law, atleast every three months, unless otherwiseindicated in this Regulation and/or other legalprovisions.

This information shall remain on the Internetwebsite, at least, during its valid term.

The principals of the administrative units shallbe responsible for submitting thecorresponding modifications to thedepartment or entity Liaison Unit.

59

REGULATIONS

Article 14

Regarding information related to publicservants remunerations, as stated inparagraph IV of Article 7 of the Law,departments and entities are responsible forthe publication of the gross and netcompensation rates, as well as thecorresponding fringe benefits of thepermanent staff, the staff of trust, andfree-lance personnel. Furthermore,departments and entities shall disclose thetotal number of positions and free lancers,specifying the vacancies available peradministrative unit.

Article 15

Those departments and entities subject toitem A of the Third Chapter of the Federal Lawof Administrative Procedures shall publishtheir procedures and forms by means of anInternet link from their site to the FederalRegistry of Procedures and Services website.Those that are not subject to that Chaptermust publish such forms on their ownInternet websites and, whenever procedural,they must include elements that areequivalent to those mentioned in Article69-M of the Federal Law of AdministrativeProcedures.

Fiscal procedures and forms shall bepublished in the registry thereby provided for,in this matter by the Tax Ministry.

The Mexican Institute of Social Security andthe Institute of the National Housing Fund forWorkers shall publish their procedures andfiscal formats in the Federal Registry ofProcedures and Services of their own Internetwebsites.

Article 11

Petitioners shall inform the Institute aboutany refusal or inefficient service, as well asabout any updating failure of an Internet site,as referred to in the previous paragraphs. TheInstitute shall issue recommendations toensure and improve such services and willpromote that the interested party receives thecorresponding information.

Article 12

The information referred to in paragraphs I, II,V,VIII and XIV of Article 7 of the Law shall beupdated within a term of no more than tenworkdays from the date it was modified.

Article 13

The Directory of Public Servants mentioned inparagraph III of Article 7 of the Law shallinclude name, position, level of such positionwithin the organization structure, telephonenumber, mail address and, if available, faxnumber and electronic address.

60

Article 16

All information related to the departmentsand entities budget and reports on theirexecution, as mentioned in paragraph IX ofArticle 7 of the Law shall be disclosed by theTax Ministry through its Internet website, andshall issue general provisions.

The period with which the public informationmust be updated cannot be shorter that theone used by the Federal Executive to report tothe Congress in compliance with the FederalExpense Budget.

All departments and entities must include alink to the Tax Ministry, in which thementioned information is deployed.

Article 17

For compliance with the provisions set forth inparagraph X of Article 7 of the Law, theMinistry of the Public Function and theinternal control bodies of the departmentsand entities, within the field of theirrespective competence, shall disclose thefollowing information:

I. The number and type of audits to beperformed during the respectivebudgetary exercise;

II. Total number of observations derived fromthe audit results for each item subject torevision; and

III. Regarding the follow-up of the auditresults, the total number of clarificationsmade by the department or entity.

The described information must be publishedwithin thirty days from the closing date ofeach quarter.

The publication of all information related tothe external audits performed tonon-concentrated bodies and entities shall bedeployed on their Internet websites, pursuantto the provisions of this Article.

61

REGULATIONS

Article 18 Article 19

The departments and entities shall publish ontheir Internet websites within the first tenworkdays of the month of July of every year, atthe latest, the information related to incentives,supports and subsidies programs. Thisinformation must be updated every threemonths and contain, at least, the following ele-ments

I. Program name or denomination;

II. The granting or administrating unit;

III. The target or beneficiary population, as wellas a corresponding log with the names ofthe individuals or the official name ordenomination of the beneficiarycorporations;

IV. The granting criteria of the administrativeunit;

V. The term for which those were granted;

VI. The amounts; and

VII.Periodical results or reports on the progressof the programs.

Internal control bodies must include theinformation referred to in the previous Articlein the department or entity Internet website.The Ministry of the Public Function will havelinks to such websites from its own page.

The results of the audits, in regards to theirpublicity, must not contain information thatcan cause serious damage to the activities ofverification and of fulfillment of the laws,related to presumed responsibilities or ofanother nature and in general those that areprivileged or confidential in the terms of theLaw and this Regulation.

Those audit observations that could causeharm to administrative or jurisdictionalproceedings shall be disclosed once the issuesare definitively resolved and thecorresponding resolutions are enacted andcannot be appealed in any mannerwhatsoever.

62

Article 21

Departments and entities must disclose ontheir Internet websites the informationrelated to the undersigned contracts forpurchases, leases, services, public works andrelated services, detailing in every case:

I. The administrative unit that made thecontract;

II. The contracting procedure;

III. The name of the individual or the officialname or denomination of the corporationinvolved with the contract;

IV. The date, purpose, amount and completionterms of the contract; and

V. Contract modification agreements, if suchis the case, detailing the elementsmentioned in the previous paragraphs.

Article 20

The departments and entities must publishon their Internet website the informationrelated to grants, approvals, and licensesissued. Such information must contain, as aminimum:

I. The identification of the grantingadministrative unit;

II. The name of the individual or the officialname or denomination of the corporationreceiving a concession, approval or license;

III. The purpose and term of the grant,approval or license, and

IV. In the case of concessions, the procedurethat was followed to grant it.

Article 22

The departments and entities, whentransferring public resources to the states ormunicipalities, must make the deliveredamounts public information, as well as thosereports referred to in Article 12 of the Law.

63

REGULATIONS

Article 23

The information referred to in paragraph XIVof Article 7 of the Law will include theregulatory framework applicable to theperformance of the departments or entities,including the provisions that ruleexpenditures exercise and control.

Chapter

Publication of GeneralAdministrative Law Draftsand Provisions

65

REGULATIONS

Article 24

The departments and entities must publish ontheir Internet websites and at least twentyworkdays prior to their date of publication orsignature by the Federal Executive, the draftsof laws or administrative acts of generalapplication such as regulations, decrees,agreements, official Mexican standards,circulars, forms, guidelines, criteria,methodologies, instruction documents,directions, rules, manuals, or provisions whichhave the purpose of setting specificobligations in lack of competence conditionsand any other similar situation of the previousacts and with no exclusion in any case.

drafts of laws or acts that are intended to besubmitted for the signature of the FederalExecutive, the Juridical Council of the FederalExecutive shall publish them in the terms of theprevious Article.

The departments and entities shall request thespecial treatment stated in Article 10 of the Lawto the Juridical Council of the Federal Executive.Regarding drafts of laws, the Juridical Councilwill consider the constitutional and legal terms,as well as the session terms of the Congress.

In the special treatment requests mentioned inthis Article, the departments and entities mustprovide the justification of the emergency, orthose that prove that the advanced disclosurecould compromise the effects that are intendedto be achieved by such provision.

General administrative acts derived from theadministrative procedures related to disloyalinternational trade practices, as set forth in theLaw of Foreign Trade, are free form thepre-disclosure obligation, as it is consideredthat the intended effects could becompromised.

Article 25

The drafts mentioned in the previous Articleand which are subject to the Third A Title of theFederal Law of Administrative Procedures shallbe published through the Federal Commissionof Regulation Updates Internet website. In thiscase, the mentioned Commission will issue acertification on the compliance of suchobligation. The departments and entities shallrequest the treatment referred to in Article 10of the Federal Commission of RegulationUpdates, in terms of the Federal Law ofAdministrative Procedures.

The drafts of those laws or acts that are notsubject to the Third A Title of the Federal Law ofAdministrative Procedures must be publishedon the individual department or entity Internetwebsite; in the case of failing to do so and for

Chapter

Information Classification

67

REGULATIONS

Article 26

The departments and entities administrativeunit principals will classify the informationwhen:

I. The information is generated, obtained,acquired or transformed; or

II. A request for access to the information isreceived, in the case of documents with noprevious categorization.

Article 27

When classifying files and documents asprivileged or confidential, the administrativeunit principal must consider the damagepossibly derived from the disclosure of thosedocuments protected by Articles 13, 14, and 18of the Law.

Article 29

Notwithstanding the provisions contained inthe last paragraph of Article 17 of the Law, theInstitute can request a department or entityto submit a report on the contents of suchprivileged or confidential information. In caseof insufficiency, the Institute can request thedepartment or entity to submit informationon those elements that could allow thecorresponding classification.

Article 28

The Institute will set the guidelinescontaining the criteria for the classification,declassification and custody of privileged andconfidential information. The Committeesshall establish specific criteria whenever thenature or specificity of the information oradministrative unit demands so, provided ajustification is submitted and as long as thereis no contradiction with the guidelines issuedby the Institute. Such criteria and justificationmust be published on the departments orentities Internet websites, within tenworkdays after they are issued or amended.

Chapter

Privileged Information

69

REGULATIONS

Article 30

Files and documents classified as privileged orconfidential must exhibit a statementindicating such classification, theclassification date, its legal grounding, theperiod of the reserve, and the signature of theadministration unit ‘s principal.

Whenever a file includes both public andpri-vileged documents, those that are notprivileged or confidential must be disclosed. Ifdealing with a document partially privilegedor confidential, an redacted version of thedocument must be delivered. The copies ofthe delivered files or documents shallrepresent the corresponding public versions.

Article 32

An index of those files that are classified asprivileged or confidential shall be publicinformation, subjected to the availability andaccess obligations set forth in the Law andthis Regulation. Such index must contain:

I. Topic title;

II. The administrative unit which generated,obtained, acquired, transformed or keepsthe information:

III. Classification date;

IV. Legal grounding;

V. Reservation term; and

VI. The privileged or confidential portions ofthose files or documents, when applicable.

Article 31

The principals of the administrative units willcreate, pursuants the provisions included inArticle 17 of the Law, an index of those files thatare classified as privileged.

With the purpose of keeping such index dulyupdated, the administrative unit will submit itto the Committee within the first ten workdaysof the months of January and July of each year,as needed. The Committee will have tenworkdays for its approval; after such term, evenwith no determination from the Committee, itshall be deemed as approved.

Article 33

Privileged or confidential files shall be properlyprotected and preserved pursuant theguidelines issued by the Institute and, if such isthe case, the specific criteria issued by theCommittees. The department or entity principalmust be knowledgeable about the latter onesand insure that they are fit for the mentionedpurposes.

70

Article 34

Privileged or confidential information can bedeclassified:

I. As of the due date of the reservationperiod;

II. When the facts that caused theclassification disappear;

III. When so is determined by the Committeein terms of Article 45 of the Law; or

IV. When so is determined by the Institute interms of Articles 17 and 56, paragraph III ofthe Law.

Article 36

Regarding Article 14 of the Law, those seriousbreaches of fundamental rights and crimesagainst humanity shall be considered, asestablished in the treaties ratified by theSenate of the Republic or in the resolutionsissued by international organizationsrecognized by the Mexican State ascompetent, as well as in the applicable legalprovisions.

Article 35

When under the judgment of a department orentity it is necessary to extend a file ordocument reservation period, thecorresponding Committee must make thecorresponding request to the Institute, dulygrounded and motivated, at least threemonths prior to the due date of thereservation period.

In absence of a reply from the Institute withintwo months after the date of the reservationperiod extension request, it shall beconsidered as affirmative in fact and thedocument will continue to be considered asprivileged for the requested period.

Chapter

Confidential Information

72

Article 37

Confidential information is not subject to duedates and remains as such indefinitely, exceptby express written consent of the holder ofsuch information or by written order issued bya competent authority.

Article 38

Citizens who submit confidential informationto departments and entities pursuant to theprovisions set forth in Article 19 of the Lawmust indicate the documents or sectionswhere such information appears, as well as thegrounds of its confidentiality.

Article 39

For the effects of paragraph I of Article 22 ofthe Law, it shall be understood that theexpress consent of the information holder willnot be required, whenever the life or integrityof the person involved is in serious risk.

Article 40

So that the departments or entities canauthorize access to privileged or confidentialinformation, it shall be necessary to obtainexpress consent from the individuals who ownsuch information, by written document orequivalent authentification.

Article 41

When a department or entity receives arequest for access to a file or to documentscontaining confidential information and theCommittee considers such as pertinent, thedepartment or entity can request the holder ofthe information to approve its delivery and willhave ten workdays to reply to thecorresponding notification. The silence of theindividual shall be deemed as a refusal.

The Committee must allow access to the publicversions of those files and documents referredto in the previous paragraph where thesections or portions of privileged informationare deleted, even in those cases in which theindividual has been requested to grant his/herconsent, or when obtaining an express orimplied refusal from such individual.

Chapter

Organization of files

74

Article 42

The National General Archives, in coordinationwith the Institute, will issue guidelinesregarding the organization, preservation, andproper handling criteria of department andentity files.

Article 43

Whenever the type of information or of theadministrative unit require so, theCommittees shall establish specific criteria forthe organization and preservation of thedepartment or entity files, provided that theguidelines mentioned in the previousparagraph are not infringed. Such criteria andtheir justification must be published on thedepartment and entity Internet Web Siteswithin ten workdays after those are issued ormodified.

Article 44

Every document under the care ofdepartments and entities shall be part of afiling system in compliance with theguidelines and criteria referred to in thisChapter; such system will at least include theentering process, the description for thegeneral group, subgroup and record, file,preservation, use, and final disposition,among others that are significant.

Article 45

The acts and procedures that are in processbefore the administrative units ofdepartments and entities, as well as the finalresolutions they adopt, must have supportingdocumentation.

Article 46

In compliance with the guidelines referred toin Article 42 of this Regulation, theCommittees will create a program containinga simple guide of the filing system of thedepartment or entity, with the purpose tofacilitate the location and the access of publicinformation. Such guide shall be updatedyearly and must include the necessarycustody and preservation measures for suchfiles. Furthermore, the Committees willsupervise the application of the guidelines orcriteria referred to in this Chapter.

Chapter

Personal Data Protection

76

Article 47

The procedures to access personal data inpossession of departments and entities willguarantee the protection of individuals’rights, particularly regarding privacy, intimacy,as well as access to and correction of theirpersonal data in compliance with theguidelines issued by the Institute and otherapplicable provisions for the handling,maintenance, safety and protection ofpersonal data.

Article 48

Those departments and entities that havepersonal data systems must make available tothe Institute and to the public, through theirInternet Web Sites, the listing of such systemsin which the objective of the system, the typeof data thereby contained, the use, theadministrative unit that handling suchinformation, and the name of the responsibleindividual must be indicated.The Institute willmaintain an updated public listing of thosepersonal data systems made available to theInstitute.

Chapter

Information Reproductionand Delivery Costs

78

Article 49

Regarding Article 27 of the Law, access feesshall be understood as reproduction anddelivery costs for the requested information.

Article 50

In the case that the departments and entitieshave an electronic version of the requestedinformation, they can deliver it to thepetitioner free of charge or make it availablethrough an Internet Web Site, informing thepetitioner of the necessary data to accesssuch information.

Article 52

Those departments and entities that provideinformation services with commercial valuemay charge for these services, in terms of theapplicable juridical regulations.

For the consultation, procurement orreproduction by the departments and entitiesdatabases, with no privileged or confidentialinformation, their commercial value shall beconsidered and property of the correspondinglegal rights shall be respected.

Article 51

The departments and entities shall reproducethe requested information by simple orcertified copies, magnetic, optic, sound, visual,holographic or other media. In these cases, thepetitioners shall be charged for rights, use orproducts, as applicable, and the correspondingpayment must be made before reproducingthe information.

Except for the case of certified copies, thosecosts mentioned in the previous paragraphcannot be higher than that of the materialsused to reproduce the information. Such costsmust be published on the Internet Web Sitesof the departments and entities.

The costs for certified copies shall bedetermined according to the applicablelegislation and, in the case of entities, the costshall not be higher than those set fordepartments.

79

REGULATIONS

Article 53

Except for certified copies and the provisionsin the second paragraph of Article 24 of theLaw, the reproduction of the informationresulting from the reply to a request foraccess to personal data or their correction,shall be free of charge.

Article 54

Provided there is no justified obstacle todoing so, the departments and entities mustaddress the petitioner’s requests regardingthe delivery means of the requestedinformation, which can be done by certifiedmail or courier with acknowledged receipt,provided the petitioners have covered the cor-responding service cost.

Article 55

The Institute and the Ministries of Treasureand Public Function will coordinate with eachother to establish and continuously improveassistance to facilitate the delivery ofinformation, reduce its costs and facilitate itspayment, preventing the physicaltransportation of petitioners to thedepartments and entities, their facilities,representations and delegations.

The Institute shall be a collaborator with theFederal Treasury for the collection of theinformation reproduction and delivery costs asset forth in the Law and this Regulation.

Chapter

On the Liaison Units and theInformation Committees

81

REGULATIONS

Article 56

The principals of the Liaison Units willdesignate the enabled public servants forfacilities, representations and delegations ofthe department or entity in question, which willaid individuals in completing their requestsand, if applicable, will guide them through thedepartment, entity or other body that couldhave the information they request.

Article 58

The decentralized administrative bodies thathave an internal control body must establishtheir own LiaisonUnit and Committee.

When they have no internal control body, theprincipal of the decentralized administrativebody and the Committee of the department towhich the body is ascribed, will determine withmutual consent if their own Liaison Unit andCommittee are required, in attention to theorganizational structure, and to the type andamount of information it handles. If thedetermination is negative, the department orentity Liaison Unit and the Committee will alsobe those of the decentralized administrativebody.

When one decentralized administrative body hasno internal control body and the creation of theirown Link Unit and Committee is found to benecessary, the principal of the departmentinternal control body will become part of thecorresponding Committee.

The Inter-ministry Commissions and the AdvisoryCouncil will fulfill the obligations prescribed bythe Law, these Regulations and other applicabledispositions through the department LiaisonUnit and the Committee of the department orentity that performs the duties of technicalsecretary or its equivalent.

Article 57

The committees shall be integrated by theprincipal of the internal control body, theprincipal of the Liaison Unit and a publicservant appointed by the principal of thedepartment or entity. The members of theCommittees may only be replaced in theirduties by public servants specifically appointedby the member principals of those, and thereplacements must have the immediateinferior rank. Decisions must be made bymajority of votes.

When an entity has no internal control body,the Ministry of the Public Function shalldesignate the public servant who will enablethe Committee.

The Committees may include the publicservants they consider necessary to counselthem or support them in their duties, and willattend the sessions with a voice but no vote.

Each Committee will establish the criteria forits performance, which must predict thefrequency of their sessions, the public servantwho shall be deemed as president of it and themanner to give follow up to their resolutions.

82

Article 59

The changes made by the departments orentities with regards to the public servants thatcomprise the Liaison Units or the Committees,must be displayed on their Internet websitewithin the immediate ten workdays after thosedecisions were made.

Article 60

The resolutions and criteria issued by theCommittees shall be published and madeknown in the corresponding department orentity Internet website within the next tenworkdays from their issuance date,notwithstanding that these were madeavailable to the public through an exclusivesystem determined by the Institute for thesepurposes.

Article 61

The Committees must submit to the Institute,through the systems that for this purpose itestablishes, within the first twenty workdays ofthe month of January of each year, all theinformation they have regarding:

I. The number and type of informationrequests submitted and their results,including those in which it was not possibleto find the information in the files.

II. Time spent in replying to the requests.

III. The status of the appeals promoted by theInstitute before the internal control bodies;and

IV. The difficulties observed in the fulfillmentof the Law, these Regulations and otherapplicable dispositions.

Chapter

Federal Institute of Accessto Public Information

84

Article 62

Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 37 ofthe Law, the Institute may:

I. Design procedures and establish systems sothat the departments and entities receive,process and resolve the requests of accessto information, as well as to personal dataand their correction.

II. Establish systems so that the departmentsand entities can submit to the Instituteresolutions, criteria, requests, consultations,briefings and any other informationthrough electronic media, of which thetransmission guarantees, given the case,the security, integrity, authenticity,reservation and confidentiality of theinformation and generates electronicregistry of the dispatch and correspondingdelivery.

III. To perform visits or mandate that thedepartments and entities in order to assurethe proper classification or declassificationof information, or the procedure forgranting access to the same.

IV. Exercise other powers that the Law confer,these Regulations and other applicable dis-positions.

The Institute will publish in the Official FederalNewspaper the guidelines and otheradministrative acts of a general characterthereby issued.

The Institute will display on its Internet websitethe excerpts of their resolutions, includingthose on appeals, and any other informationthat it considers of interest.

Article 65

The Liaison Unit and the Institute’sCommittee will not have access to thefollowing information:

I. Information received from thedepartments and entities so that theInstitute acknowledges, verifies or ordersits classification or declassificationaccording to the dispositions of the Law,these Regulations and other applicableprovisions, and

II. That contained in the appeals files, as longas they have not been resolved.

Article 63

Article 64

The Plenary Meeting of the Institute willdesignate a Liaison Unit and will integrate theCommittee under the terms of the Law.

Chapter

On Access toInformation Procedures

86

Regarding Article 40 of the Law, access toinformation requests can be filed by personaldocument, by the forms created by theInstitute for such purpose or by the systemthereby established. Both the forms and thesystem must be available in the Liaison Units,facilities, representations and delegations thathave enabled public servants, as well as in thedepartments, entities and Institute InternetWeb Sites.

The petitioner can indicate which person orpersons are authorized to file, if necessary, theappeals referred to in Articles 49 and 50 of theLaw in his/her request document.

The requests for access to information can bepresented personally or through arepresentative at the address of thecorresponding department or entity LiaisonUnit or in the address of its facilities,representations or delegations that haveenabled public servants. Furthermore, suchrequest can be filed by certified mail or courierwith acknowledged receipt and electronicallythrough the system thereby established by theInstitute for such purpose. In any event, theInstitute shall confirm or send to the petitionera receipt clearly acknowledging thecorresponding filing date.

Article 66

The representation referred to in Article 40 ofthe Law can be held by an authorized thirdparty with power-of-attorney signed beforetwo witnesses with no need of previoussignature ratification or any other formality.Therepresentation cannot be accepted when theaccess request is made by electronic means.

Article 67

Those petitioners must indicate whencompleting their request for access toinformation, the mechanism to be used for thecorresponding resolution notification, pursuantArticle 44 of the Law. Such notification can be:

I. Personally or through a representative inthe Liaison Unit address or in their facilities,representations and delegations that haveenabled public servants;

II. By certified mail or courier withacknowledged receipt, provided that in thislatter case, the payment of thecorresponding service is covered upon filingthe request; and

III. By electronic means through the systemestablished by the Institute, in which casethe petitioner must indicate that he/sheaccepts the same method to receivenotifications. The department or entitymust provide the petitioner with thepassword that allows him/her to access thesystem.

Article 68

87

REGULATIONS

Whenever a petitioner files a request byelectronic means through the Institute system,it shall be understood that he/she accepts thatthe notifications are made by the same system,except if it is indicated different manner toreceive such notifications is preferred.

In case that the petitioner does not specify themanner in which he/she should be notifiedabout the resolution or does not cover thepayment for the courier service mentioned inparagraph II of this Article, the notification shallbe delivered by certified mail or by publicposting in a conspicuous place if an address isnot specified.

This Article shall be applicable in the case ofterm extension notifications referred to in thefirst paragraph of Article 44 of the Law.

Each department or entity Committee can setthe internal terms and procedures to processthe access requests, which must be dischargedin a maximum term of the twenty workdaysreferred to in Article 44 of the Law, including thenotification to the petitioner through theLiaison Unit. In failure to do so, such procedurewill adhere to the following:

I. Upon receipt of the request, the Liaison Unitmust submit it to the administrative unitsthat could have the information, within twoworkdays after receiving the request.

II. In case that the information is available andpublic, the administrative unit must sonotify so to the Liaison Unit, within fifteenworkdays after receiving the request fromthe said Unit, indicating, if applicable, thereproduction and delivery costs, accordingto the various methods included in Articles51 and 54 of this Regulation, or the source,place and manner in which the informationcan be obtained or reproduced, as well asthe corresponding costs if the information isrelated to the assumptions mentioned inArticles 42, third paragraph of the Law, and50 and 52 of the Regulation;

III. In the case that the administrative unitdetermines that the requested informationis privileged or confidential, both the accessrequest and a document grounding andmotivating the corresponding classificationshall be submitted to the Committee,within eight workdays after receiving therequest. The Committee can confirm,modify or revoke the mentionedclassification, and for that purpose, the

Article 70

Those Liaison Units receiving requests foraccess to information that are not in thepossession of the corresponding department orentity, must assist and give orientation topetitioners, through the means indicated in therequest and within the next five workdays, onthose departments or entities that could havesuch information. In such cases, the individual’spetition will not be considered as a request ofaccess to information in compliance with theLaw and this Regulation.

Article 69

Committee shall be able to access privilegedor confidential files or documents. In anyevent, it will issue a grounded andmotivated resolution;

IV. In case that the administrative unitdetermines that the requested informationcontains privileged or confidentialdocuments, or if a document containsportions or sections with this type ofinformation, both the access request and adocument grounding and motivating thecorresponding classification shall besubmitted to the Committee, within thesame term indicated above, as well as areproduction of the public version of thosedocuments that are not privileged orconfidential or from which those portionsor sections containing privileged orconfidential information have been deleted.The Committee can confirm, modify orrevoke the mentioned classification, and forthat purpose, the Committee shall be ableto access privileged or confidential files ordocuments. The Committee shall proceedpursuant to the provisions of Article 41 ofthis Regulation and issue a grounded andmotivated resolution; and

V. In case that the administrative unitdetermines that the requested informationis not in their possession, a reportdescribing this fact and giving directionrelated to the possible location of therequested information must be submittedto the Committee within five workdaysafter receiving the request from the LiaisonUnit. The Committee shall proceed incompliance with the provisions of Article 56of the Law.

88

The Committees can decide to extend the termto reply to a request of access to information incompliance with the first paragraph of Article44 of the Law.The notification submitted to thepetitioner must explain in a grounded andmotivated manner, the reasons that justify thesaid extension. Negligence or carelessness bythe department or entity regarding the requestdischarge cannot be invoked as causes of theterm extension.

Article 71

Those Committee resolutions that deny accessto information or determine that the files ordocuments include privileged or confidentialportions or sections, the correspondingclassification must be grounded and motivatedand must state that the petitioner can file anappeal before the Institute, and provide thecorresponding form the Internet Web Site fromwhich the form can be obtained and file itthrough the Institute System, or furthermore,allow access to such system if so is requested.

Article 72

The Committees must issue those resolutionsreferred to in Articles 45 and 46 of the Law inthe fastest possible manner.

89

REGULATIONS

Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 50 ofthis Regulation, the costs and methods for thereproduction of the information must bespecified, pursuant the provisions of Articles 51and 52 of the same Regulation, servingwhenever procedural, the petitioner’s request.

If such is the case, the information can be madeavailable to the petitioner by physicalconsultation at the department or entity,preferable and whenever possible, in theLiaison Unit address. If this is not possible, theLiaison Unit must make sure that theconsultation is performed in the properfacilities.

Article 73

The petitioners will have a term of threemonths after the resolution of access toinformation is notified to use said resolution.Therefore, they must start the consultation asindicated or cover the reproduction or deliverycosts accordingly. After such term, petitionermust file a new request for access toinformation with no liability for thedepartment or entity.

Article 75

Within ten workdays after notification is made,the requested information must be available tothe petitioner or representative in the LiaisonUnit address or in their facilities, representationsand delegations that have enabled publicservants, or through an Internet Web Site ordelivered in compliance with the provisions ofArticles 50 and 54 of this Regulation, asapplicable.

Whenever it is necessary to reproduce or deliverthe information in the terms of this Article, theten workdays term will start counting from thefirst workday after the petitioner has paid thecorresponding costs.

Article 74

Chapter

On Access Procedures andCorrection of Personal Data

91

REGULATIONS

Articles 66 and 68 of this Regulation areapplicable to the requests for access topersonal data and its correction, with thevariations referred to in this Article.

When filing their requests, the owners of thepersonal data or their representatives mustdemonstrate their personality in advance. Therepresentation must have a legal standing interms of the corresponding provisions. Theabove shall be applicable in the cases ofresolution notifications according toparagraphs I and II of Article 68 of thisRegulation, as well as its second paragraph.

The use of electronic means to file requestsand receive notifications on the resolutions,shall be limited to those cases in which thepetitioner has the certification of theelectronic identification means referred to inArticle 69-C of the Federal Law ofAdministrative Procedures.

The terms stated in Articles 24 and 25 of theLaw cannot be extended and the provisions ofthe second paragraph of Article 66 of thisRegulation will not be procedural.

Article 76

In the case that the terms and proceduresapplicable to the requests for access andcorrection of personal data are specified asservices or procedures in compliance withparagraph VII and VIII of Article 7 of the Law, theowners of the personal data must file theirrequests according the indications containedtherein.

Article 77

Each department or entity Committee canestablish the terms and the internal procedureto process the requests for access to personaldata, which shall be discharged within the termof ten workdays referred to in the firstparagraph of Article 24 of the Law, including thenotification to the petitioner through theLiaison Unit, and it will adhere to the following:

I. Upon reception of the request, the LiaisonUnit must submit the request of access topersonal data to the administrative unitsthat could have the correspondinginformation;

II. In the case of availability of the petitioner’spersonal data, the administrative unit mustsubmit it in a comprehensible format to theLiaison Unit, specifying the correspondingfee charge service, and the delivery cost ofsuch information, if applicable, pursuant toArticle 54 of this Regulation, unless it isbeing dealt with certified copies or if relatedto the provisions of second paragraph ofArticle 24 of the Law, so such informationshould be specified; and

III. In the case that the administrative unitdetermines that the requested informationis not available in its personal data system, areport of such circumstance must besubmitted to the Committee, where thecase shall be analyzed and the necessarymeasures shall be taken in order to locatethe requested information. In case that therequested information is not found, theCommittee will issue a resolution informingthe petitioner about the inexistence ofhis/her personal data in the correspondingsystem.

Article 78

92

The Committees’ resolutions that determinethe inexistence of personal data or the total orpartial inadmissibility of its modifications, mustbe grounded and motivated and must indicateto the petitioner that he/she can file an appealbefore the Institute, as well as to provide thepetitioner with the corresponding forms, theInternet Web Site in which the forms can beobtained to be filed through the Institutesystem, or allow access to the said system, if sois requested.

Article 80

When the petitioner requests certified copiesof his/her personal data or its correction, theresolution dates will start counting one dayafter having demonstrated that thecorresponding costs have been covered.

Article 81

Each department or entity Committee canestablish the terms and the internal procedureto process the requests for correction topersonal data, which shall be dischargedwithin the term of thirty workdays referred toin Article 25 of the Law, including thenotification to the petitioner through theLiaison Unit, and it will adhere to the following:

I. Upon reciept of the request, the Liaison Unitmust submit it to the administrative unitsthat could have the correspondinginformation

II. In the case that personal data correction isprocedural, the administrative unit mustsubmit to the Liaison Unit a documentindicating the modifications and specifyingthe gratuitousness of the process as well asthe delivery cost of such informationpursuant to Article 54 of this Regulation,unless the information is requested incertified copies or related to the provisionsof the second paragraph of Article 24 of theLaw, thereby specified as necessary.

III. In case that the administrative unitdetermines that the requested correction ofpersonal data is not possible, a documentthat grounds and motivates the reasonswhy those modifications are notprocedural, must be submitted to theCommittee. The Committee will determineif the modifications are possible pursuantthe previous paragraph or issue a groundedand motivated resolution stating the totalor partial inadmissibility of suchcorrections.

Article 79

Chapter

On Procedures beforethe Institute

94

Pursuant to the provisions of Article 51 of theLaw, the appeal set forth in Articles 49 and 50of the same, is procedural. This appeal shall besubstantiated according to the Law, to thisRegulation, and for the not foreseen, to theprovisions of the Federal Law of AdministrativeProcedures.

For appeals of requests for access to information,it shall not be necessary to certify the identity ofthe interested party and the representation canbe held in terms of Article 84 of this Regulation.The electronically filed appeals must be filed bythe interested party and in such case,representation is inadmissible.

Regarding personal data, the owner of suchpersonal data or his/her legal attorney must filethe appeals. Furthermore, such appeal can beelectronically filed, provided the petitioner has acertification of the electronic means ofidentification referred to in Article 69-C of theFederal Law of Administrative Procedures.

The term referred to in Article 55 of the Law shallstart counting one day after the Institutereceives the appeal.

Article 82

The representation referred to in Article 49 of theLaw must be demonstrated by power of attorneysigned before two witnesses, with no need ofprevious signature ratification or any otherformality.

The representation can also be demonstrated bypresenting the request for access to informationthat originated the contested resolution,in whichthe person that can file the procedural defensemeans has been expressly authorized to do so.

Article 84

Regarding of Articles 26, 49 and 50 of the Law,appeals can be filed by personal document, bythe forms determined by the Institute for sucheffects, or through the system indicated by theInstitute. Both the forms and the system shall beavailable at the Liaison Units, their facilities,representations and delegations, that haveenabled public servants, as well as in thedepartment, entities and Institute Web Sites.

The filing of an appeal regarding the access toinformation procedures can be done personallyor by a representative at the Institute’s addressor in the site previously authorized by the same,as well as in the corresponding department orentity Liaison Unit.

Such appeal can be delivered by certified mail orcourier with acknowledged reception, and byelectronic means through the Institute system;in any event,reception acknowledgment shall besubmitted, confirmed or filed to the petitioner,clearly displaying the corresponding filing date.

Article 83

95

REGULATIONS

In compliance with paragraph IV of Article 55 ofthe Law, when the appeal is electronically filed,the contested resolution must be attached tothe same electronic documents and, ifapplicable, a copy of the correspondingnotification. Optionally, such documents can bereproduced in hard copies and sent to theInstitute.

When the petitioner does not specify the way inwhich he/she shall be notified on the resolution,or when the cost for courier service mentioned inparagraph II of this Article is not covered, thenotification shall be delivered by certified mail, orby the system indicated by the Institute.

When the petitioner does not specify a address toreceive notifications, these shall be deliveredposted in a conspicuous place in a court of law.

This Article shall be applicable in cases of termextension notifications mentioned in thepenultimate paragraph of Article 55 of the Law.

For those cases mentioned in paragraphs I and IIof this Article, the notification of resolutionsrelated to access to personal data or its correctioncan only be made to the individual owner of suchpersonal data or his/her legal attorney, afterdemonstrating his/her credentials. Furthermore,such notification can be submitted electronically,provided the petitioner has the certification ofelectronic identification referred to in Article 69-Cof the Federal Law of Administrative Procedures.

Article 85

Those petitioners filing appeals must state howthey desire to be notified on the correspondingresolutions, pursuant to Article 56 of the Law.Such notification can be made:

I. Personally or through a representative at theInstitute address;

II. By certified mail or courier, withacknowledged reciept, provided in this lattercase that, when filing the recourse, the costfor the corresponding service is covered; and

III. Electronically, through the Institute system, inwhich case the petitioner must indicatehis/her acceptance to use the same means toreceive notifications, provided he/she issupplied with the necessary access elements.

When a petitioner files an appeal of revisionelectronically through the Institute system, itshall be understood that he/she accepts to usethe same system to receive notifications, unless adifferent means for such purpose is specified.

Article 86

96

If the appeal does not satisfy any of theprerequisites stated in Article 54 of the Law, andthe Institute does not have the necessaryelements for a remediation, the appellant shallbe warned only once, and through the methodof his/her choice in compliance with theprevious Article, as to remediate such failureswithin a term of five workdays. Uponexpiration of the corresponding term andwithout warning, the appeal shall be deemedas not complete.

The warning will interrupt the term that theInstitute has to solve the appeal.

Article 87

When the appeal fulfills all prerequisites statedin Article 54 of the Law, the Institute will decreeits acceptance and will issue report to theCommittee that issued the contestedresolution, so that in a term of seven workdays,it states whatever is within its rights.

Article 88

Regarding paragraph II of Article 55 of the Law,the Institute Plenary Committee willdetermine, if applicable, the place, date andtime to hold the hearing, indicating that withinfive days before its discharge, evidence can beoffered and, if applicable, admitted anddischarged during the hearing, that cannot bepostponed and must be held whether theparties appear or not. Furthermore, theInstitute can designate a representative for thispurpose and shall determine, according to thetype of the matter, whether the hearings will bepublic or private.

In the case of holding the hearing, the partiescan present their allegations in written form or,if applicable, they shall be granted a reasonableterm to express them. Minute shall be keptduring the hearing.

Article 90

In the substantiation of the appeal referred toin Article 55 of the Law, the Institute, by meansof the President Commissioner will process,resolve, and if necessary, will remediate thecorresponding legal failures, on the appeals,without modifying the facts thereindescribed.

For such effect, all types of evidence shall beaccepted, except for confessions byauthorities. The requests for information onadministrative authorities regarding thosefacts contained in their files or thereby addeddocuments are not included in thisprohibition.

Article 89

97

REGULATIONS

Those resolutions referred to in paragraph III ofArticle 56 of the Law must be implemented byall departments and entities in a term of nomore than ten workdays, counting from thenext working day after the resolution isnotified to the Committee.

Article 91

Regarding Article 53 of the Law, individualscan request the Institute, as described inArticle 83 of this Regulation, to intervene inorder to verify the absence of reply from adepartment or entity regarding an accessrequest according to the term set forth byArticle 44 of the Law.

The Institute will enjoin the correspondingdepartment or entity to demonstrate in aterm of five workdays that a timely andcorrect reply was delivered to the petitioner.After demonstrating so, to the judgment ofthe Institute, the corresponding report shallbe submitted to the petitioner by means of aresolution issued within the next 20 workdaysafter filing the intervention request.Otherwise, a resolution shall be issued, clearlystating the instruction given to thedepartment or entity to submit the requestedinformation within the next ten workdaysafter the notification date.

Article 93

In terms of Article 56 of the Law, if anydepartment or entity refuses to discloseinformation related to the resolution of anappeal , or if the information is incomplete, orrefuses to comply with a resolution orinstruction, the Institute can:

I. Communicate such fact to the correspondinginternal control body for its immediateintervention;

II. Appeal to the administrative unit principal’shierarchic superior for immediateintervention; or

III. Disclose such circumstance to the public.

Article 92

98

In the case that the department or entitycannot demonstrate a timely and correct replyto the petitioner, and considers that theprocedure is related to privileged orconfidential information, such instance shallsubmit to the Institute a report of the groundsand motivations of the correspondingclassification, in a term of the five workdaysreferred to in the previous Article.

If such report is insufficient regarding thecorresponding classificaton, the Institute cansummon the department or entity to supplyelements that allow a proper solution within aterm of five workdays, including the privilegedor confidential information.

The Institute shall assess the classification inaccordance with the previous paragraphs and,if applicable, within the next twenty workdaysafter the presentation of the interventionrequest, will issue a resolution, clearly statingthe instruction given to the department orentity to submit the requested information orelse to state that the documents of referenceare privileged or confidential; if such is the casethe resolution will instruct the department orentity to provide grounds and motivate thecorresponding refusal. In both cases theinstruction must be fulfilled within the nextten workdays after the notification date.

Article 94

Regarding Article 60 of the Law, petitioners canrequest the corresponding reconsiderationbefore the Institute, by document incompliance with the prerequisites stated byArticle 54 of the Law. The Institute mustdetermine if the reasons that originated theresolutions prevail, or if reconsideration ispossible, within a term not exceeding theprovisions of Article 55 of the Law to resolve theappeal.

Article 95

TRANSITORY

FIRST. This Regulation shall be in full effect andforce the next day from its publication in theOfficial Federal Newspaper.

SECOND. The National General Archives, incoordination with the Institute, will issueguidelines containing the criteria referred to inArticle 42 of the Regulation, in accordance withthe timetable created by both institutions.

THIRD. The records on procedures and fiscalforms referred to in the Law and thisRegulation must be available to the public onthe Internet, no later than six months after thedate in which this Regulation comes in fullforce and effect.

FOURTH. All departments and entities mustadapt the information referred to in Article 7 ofthe Law in the terms set forth in Chapter II ofthe Regulation, within three months after itbecomes in full force and effect.

FIFTH. In the case of Article 20 of thisRegulation, all departments and entities canchose to publish copies of permits, licenses orconcession titles electronically, when theinformation is before the date of force andeffect of this Regulation. In any event,departments and entities must have a programto ensure that the information is available inthe corresponding formats, within three yearsfrom the date of force and effect of thisRegulation

SIXTH. Regarding Article 23 of the Law,departments and entities must notify theInstitute on the listings of the personal datasystem that they have and publish the same ontheir Internet websites, no later than within thenext three months from the date of force andeffect of this Regulation

100

SEVENTH. The regime set forth by the Law andthe Regulation shall be applicable to currentlyexisting information. Such information shall bepublic and can only be characterized asprivileged or confidential in thosecircumstances described in the mentionedlaws.

EIGHTH. The creation of those indexes referredto in Article 32 of the Regulation must becompleted within the first twenty workdays ofJanuary, 2004.

NINTH. Those administrative provisions thatgrant attributions to departments and entitiesin matters of transparency and access to publicgovernment information are annulledwhenever those oppose the provisions of theLaw and this Regulation.

TENTH. The Institute must comply with allobligations set forth in Chapters II and XI of thisRegulation regarding the information thatmust be included on its Internet website, nolater than three months after its enforcementdate.

ELEVENTH. While the Congress approves thoserights applicable to the access fees referred toin Article 27 of the Law, the Ministry of Treasurewill establish, no later than five days after thisRegulation comes into full force and effect, asimple and expedite procedure so that thedepartments and entities can collect theinformation reproduction costs.

The procedure will specify the maximumamounts that the departments and entitiescan charge and will tend to comply with theobjectives set forth in Article 55 of theRegulation. Those reproduction modes forwhich access fees can be charged shall be thosereferred to in Articles 51 and 52 of theRegulation.

101

REGULATIONS

Given in 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 three. Vicente Fox Quesada.- A flourish.- The

Secretary of State, Santiago Creel Miranda.- A flourish.- The Secretary of the Public Function, Eduardo

Romero Ramos.- A flourish.

102

103

DECREEfor the Creation of theFederal Instituteof Access to Public Information

Published in the Federal Official Newspaper on December 24th., 2002.

104

only with respect to their legal nature but alsoon their degree of autonomy, organizationalrules, structures and budgetary treatment,amongst other elements.

That it is necessary to clarify that the legalnature of the body is one which allows fullexercise of operative, budgetary and decisiveautonomy to ensure its independence fromother departments or entities of the samepublic administration; in particular for thequasi-jurisdictional duties that the institutecarries out or those related to the negativeresolutions to requests for access toinformation and personal data, as well as itspower to have access to privileged orconfidential information, at any given time, inorder to determine its proper classification,declassification or the procedure to rule itsaccess.

That the administrative decentralization,under its modality of non-sectored body, hasamong other advantages, the suppression ofthe hierarchical tie that characterizes thecentralized and decentralized administrativeunits, in addition to providing the autonomyof measure and patrimony.

That with the precision to which the presentDecree refers, in addition to the appointmentrequirements, permanence in the post andprogression of the duty length periods asprescribed in the Law for the members of itsbody of directors, the Institute would be in thecondition to perform its assigned duties, withindependence, efficiency, objectivity andimpartiality, without prejudice regarding itsbelonging to the public administration and tobeing subject to the budgetary limitsapproved by the Chamber of Deputies, I haveseen fit to issue the following:

VICENTE FOX QUESADA, President of theUnited Mexican States, exercising the facultythat Article 89, fraction I, of the PoliticalConstitution of the United Mexican States,bestows upon me; based on Articles 33, 34 and36 of the Federal Law on Transparency andAccess to Public Government Information; 14and 15 of the Federal Law of State-OwnedCorporations and 21, 37 and 45 of the OrganicLaw on Federal Public Administration, and

That through a Decree published in theOfficial Federal Newspaper on June 11, 2002,the Federal Law on Transparency and Accessto Government Public Information, introducedby the Honorable Congress, was enacted andpublished.

That in the mentioned legal ordinance theFederal Institute of Access to PublicInformation was created, with operative,budgetary and decisive autonomy,fundamentally in charge of promoting theexercise of the right to access information;resolving the refusal of the requests for accessto information and protecting personaldetails in the hands of governmentdepartments and entities.

That the Law itself expressly foresees that forthe effects of its resolutions the Institute willnot be subordinated to any authority, willadopt its decisions with full independenceand will have the human and materialresources for the fulfillment of its duties.

That the Federal Public Administrationencompassess very diverse forms ofadministrative organization, which vary not

CONSIDERING

105

DECREE

The Federal Institute of Access to PublicInformation is a decentralized, non-sectoredbody, with legal recognition and ownpatrimony, with legal address in Mexico City.

The institute will have operative, budgetary anddecisive autonomy, under the terms of the Lawthat creates it and this Decree, withoutprejudice that in matters of expenditure,budget and accounting, will govern itself underthe Budgetary, Accounting and Federal PublicExpenditure Law, the Federation’s ExpenditureBudget of every fiscal year and the dispositionsthat emanate from these last two.

Article 1Five Commissioners, including the PresidentCommissioner, will integrate the highestdirective body of the Institute. It will deliberateas a body and will undertake resolutions bymajority of votes, in compliance with itsInternal Regulations.

For the effects of its resolutions, the InstitutePlenum will not be subordinated to anyauthority, and therefore will adopt the saiddecisions with full independence.

The Plenum will have, in addition to thepowers set forth in the Federal Law ofTransparency and Access to Public GovernmentInformation, the ones stated in Article 58 of theFederal Law of Government-OwnedCorporations.

Article 4

The Institute will have as an objective thepromotion and spreading of exercising theright of access to information; resolve ondenials of access to information requests, andto protect personal data in the hands ofgovernment departments and entities.

Article 2

The Principal Commissioner of the Institute,appointed by the Plenum, will exercise thelegal representation of the entity and willhave the faculties established in the FederalLaw of Transparency and Access to PublicGovernment Information, its Regulations, andthe Internal Regulations of the Institute.

Article 5

For the fulfillment of its objective, theInstitute will have the powers set forth in theFederal Law of Transparency and Access toPublic Government Information and theremaining applicable legal dispositions.

Article 3

DECREE

106

The Institute will have Secretaries appointed bythe Plenum, in compliance with the approvedbudget, and in charge of administrative,operational and substantiated activities of allprocedures. The procedural faculties shall bedistributed among the Secretaries, as well as allnecessary competence empowerment for theorganization and performance of the said body.

Furthermore, the Institute will havesubordinated personnel and the necessarysupport for the efficient dispatch of itsattributions, in compliance with its authorizedbudget.

Article 6

With the objective of guaranteeing itsbudge-tary and administrative autonomy, theInstitute shall be considered as a semi-stateentity with direct control, with no budgetarysupport.

Article 8

The Institute will have an Internal Comptroller,on internal control body that will fulfill itsfunctions according to the specialized natureof the Institute and without interfering withthe substantial decisions of the entity,pursuant the corresponding legislation.

The Internal Comptroller, Principal of saidbody, as well as the holders of the auditing,complaints and responsibilities areas shall beappointed in terms of Article 37, fraction XII, ofthe Organic Law of Federal PublicAdministration and will exercise, in the area oftheir competence, the powers set forth in theappropriate ordinance, in the Federal Law ofSemi-State Entities, in the Federal Law ofAdministrative Responsibilities of PublicServants and the other applicabledispositions.

Article 9

The patrimony of the institutions is integratedby:

I. The resources yearly allotted by theFederation’s Expenditure Budget, for itsfunctions.

II. The goods and properties allotted by theFederal Executive.

III. The resources created by the exercise ofthe activities under its competence; and

IV. Other resources, goods and rights itacquires through any legal title.

Article 7

107

DECREE

The Institute will have a surveillance body,with powers granted by the Federal Law ofSemi-State Entities and other applicable dis-positions. The duty of the Commissioner willfall on the Principal of the internal controlbody.

Pursuant to Article 33 of the Federal Law ofAccess to Public Government Information, theexercise of the attributes conferred to thePublic Commissioner does not entail theevaluation of the performance of thesubstantial duties of the body or implylimitations or restrictions of any kind to thesaid duties. The Commissioner may onlyattend the sessions of the Plenum when itdeals with matters related to the attributesreferred to in Article 58 of the Federal Law ofSemi-State Entities.

Article 10

Article 123, Section B, of the PoliticalConstitution of the United Mexican States,and its provisions, will rule the labor relationsof the Institute public servants.

Article 11

SOLE. The present Decree shall be in full forceand effect on the day after it is publication inthe Official Federal Newspaper.

PROVISIONAL

Given in the Residence of the Federal Executive Power, in Mexico City, on the twentieth day of the

month of December two thousand two.- Vicente Fox Quesada.- Signed.- The Tax Minister, Jose

Francisco Gil Diaz.- Signed.- Comptroller and Administrative Development Minister, Francisco

Javier Barrio Terrazas.- Signed.

108

109

ACCESS TO PUBLICGOVERNMENTINFORMATION GUIDE

110

This brief Access to Public Government Information Guide explains howto request information from the government or how to review andcorrect your personal data. The Guide also tells you how to file anappeal from IFAI, when any organization of the Federal PublicAdministration denies access to information or when you are nothappy with the response to your request.

111

ACCESSGUIDE

The information held by the government ispublic and must be available to any person.The law mandates all governmentdepartments and entities to disclose certaininformation via Internet and to have itavailable to the public, without the need of arequest. This information includes theorganization chart of the entity ordepartment, its faculties and the salaries of allthe officials, the contracts those departmentsand entities sign with vendors, suppliers, andcontractors and how they use their budgets,as well as subsidies, licenses, permits andauthorizations these entities or departmentsgrant, amongst other aspects of the publicadministration.

Only in exceptional cases can the access togovernment information be restricted. That isthe case of privileged and confidentialinformation. The next item briefly shows theexceptions.

I.What type ofinformationdoes theFederalExecutivePower have?

Any school evaluationmust be public.

1. Public information

112

Any information is considered as privileged orconfidential when its disclosure could endangerthe national security, damage the relationshipswith other countries, destabilize the nationaleconomy, endanger the life, safety or health ofany person or prevent the enforcement of thelaw, among other assumptions (for example, thepolice forces of all over the world withhold someinformation about public security to better servetheir societies). In Mexico, information canremain as privileged or confidential for amaximum period of 12 years, but it can becomepublic before such term if the reasons for itsclassificacion disappear. In order to deny accessto privileged or confidential information, thedepartments and entities must legally justifysuch classificacion and must provide evidencethat its disclosure could fall in some of theexceptions set forth by the Law.

No authority can categorize as privileged orconfidential any information related to graveviolations of basic human rights, related tocrimes against humanity, such as torture, or the“forced disappearance of people”.

The law also protects privacy rights. Confidentialinformation means personal data, such asaddress, telephone number, patrimony, religiousor political beliefs, and health status, amongother private information that individuals pro-vide to the government. In order to disclose it,the holder of such information mustsubmitÇconsent to do so; otherwise there is noreason for it to become public. Confidentialinformation is also that expressly categorized assuch by any individual and provided togovernmental departments and entities.

The government can deny access both toprivileged and confidential information.Nevertheless, petitioners, like yourself, canalways call on IFAI for review, if the denial is notjustified. It is the duty of IFAI to ensure forapplicants, that such denial to access publicinformation is properly grounded and motivated,so that the otherwise public governmentinformation can remain secret.

For those documents that contain portions ofprivileged or confidential information, thedepartments and entities are in the obligated todisclose a public version of such documents,omitting the privileged or confidential portions.

Law enforcement activities toprevent the trafficing of infants,is privileged information.

The medical record of a patientis confidential information.

2. Privileged and confidentialinformation

113

ACCESSGUIDE

Every Ministry and publicinstitution has a Liaison Unit.

The Liaison Units are windows ormodules where you can file yourrequest for access to information,access your personal data oraccess it in order to correct .

II.Where andhow can youhave accessto governmentinformation?

The Law provides the criteria and procedures,which must be followed by the institutions ofthe Federal Public Administration in order toprovide access to information. Thesegovernment institutions, called departmentsand entities, include the Ministries of Stateand the government-owned companies suchas PEMEX, IMSS and the IFAI itself.

The Federal Public Administration has morethan 250 departments and entities, which areobligated to comply with the proceduresdepicted in this Guide.

1. Departments and entities

2. Liaison Units and InformationCommittees

The ministries and public institutions havecreated Liaison Units and InformationCommittees. A Liaison Unit is responsible for:

• Filing access of information requests;• Processing those requests, and• Providing assistance to all petitioners for

the completion of their requests.

114

Three members, including a public servantappointed by the principal of the departmentor entity, the Liaison Unit principal and theInternal Comptroller, integrate the InformationCommittee. These committees evaluate theclassification criteria and reasoning to classifythe information from the various offices in thedepartments and entities as public, privilegedor confidential. The committee could decide todeny the disclosure of information or theproposed classification if it is not dulygrounded, and can thus issue an order todisclose the information.

a) Access to public information requests

In order to respond to your request, thedepartments or entities are under noobligation to create new information.Nevertheless, the Law provides they areobligated to provide public informationalready available in documents, and in theirfiles. You can help expedite the process bydescribing the desired information asaccurately as possible, and identifying thetype of document that could contain suchinformation.

If you want to know how much money aSecretary of State spent in the office-relatedtrips he/she made, then you must request theinformation about the amount of money suchSecretary spent, for instance, in his/her tripsduring the month of August. The departmentor entity will search for a documentcontaining such specific information,

although it is possible it does not exist as suchin any of the available documents. If that isthe case, the department or entity from whichyou requested the information probably willrespond that it needs more data in order toprocess your request, for example, theexpense or itemization being dealt with.

But if from the very beginning you requestdocuments such as invoices, sales tickets,expense vouchers and national andinternational travel tickets from theSecretary’s office during the month of Augustof this year, the department or entity willcertainly have those documents, becausepublic institutions keep files on the travelallowances of their administrative units.

The more clear and specific your request is,the greater the opportunity you’ll have thatthe department or entity will provide you withthe information you are requesting, in theshortest time, and with the greatest detail.

If you have questions you can obtain guidancefrom IFAI over the phone, via Internet orpersonally. You can also ask the personnel ofthe department or entity’s Liaison Unit forhelp.

If your request is for already publishedinformation in hard copies or electronicmedia, the Liaison Unit is obligated to tell you

If you wish to know how muchmoney was spent by a Secretary inhis/her official trips, you mustrequest invoices, sales tickets andany other documents, whichconstitute the evidence of suchexpenses.

3. Procedures beforedepartments and entitiesLiaison Units

115

ACCESSGUIDE

where and how you can consult, copy orobtain such information.

When the information you request cannot befound in the department or entity in whichyou file your information request, the LiaisonUnit’s personnel is obligated to tell you whichdepartment or entity has it, so that you canfile a new information request.

The Liaison Unit has 20 workdays, countingfrom the day after receiving the request, toinform you if they have the information yourequested and whether it is public, privilegedor confidential. This communication is knownas a “notification”. In exceptions, the LiaisonUnit can extend that period, but only onceand up to 20 workdays.

b) Different ways to file yourinformation request

If the information exists and is public, theLiaison Unit must submit it to you within tenworkdays after the notification date. Beforeits delivery, you must pay the applicablereproduction and shipping expenses, if any.

You can file your information requests in threedifferent ways: by mail, by Internet or directlyin the corresponding Liaison Units. For this,you can check the addresss of the LiaisonUnits via Internet by logging in at:www.ifai.org.mx/textos/IFAI/quepuede/directoriounidades/unidades.htm.

Mail request

You or your representative can fileinformation requests by personal writtendocument, or by the use of those formsapproved by IFAI and then sending them bymail to the corresponding Liaison Unit. Therequest must state:

• Your name and address;

• The particulars of your representative, ifapplicable;

• A clear and precise description of thedocuments you are requesting, as well asany other information to assist on itssearch; and

• Optionally, the format with which youwish to receive the information, such asdirect consultation, plain copies, certifiedcopies or any other means.

Who can file aninformation request?You or your representative

If the information is availableand public, the delivery time isdue within 30 workdays (plusmail or courier delivery time)from the date of your request ofaccess to information.

116

You can learn about the procedure and status ofyour request from the personnel in the LiaisonUnits or in the web page www.ifai.org.mx. TheLiaison Unit is obligated to provide you with afolio number, which will appear in youracknowledged request reciept, and by using thisnumber, you can check the procedure andstatus of your request on the Internet(www.ifai.org.mx).

Internet Request (SISI)

IFAI has designed a mechanism calledInformation Request System (SISI, is itsacronym in Spanish). You can use SISI to fileyour access of information requestelectronically to any department or entity. Oncefiled, with the user code and password of yourchoice, SISI will generate an acknowledgmentreciept containing a folio number that you canuse to access and learn about the procedureand status of your request in the same mediaand at all times.

All federal departmentsand entities areobligated to use SISI. Onthe IFAI web page(www.ifai.org.mx) or on

the web page of each department or entity, youwill find a link to SISI, from which you shall beable to complete and send your access toinformation request.

Some of the advantages of using SISI are:

• You do not have to appear at a public officeto file a request. Through SISI, you can do itfrom any computer with Internet access:

• You reduce the response time fornotification of information availability;

• You can follow-up the procedure and statusof your request at the web pagewww.ifai.org.mx. In order to do so, youmust use the folio number that appears inthe acknowledgment reciept the LiaisonUnit handed to you personally;

• You can receive the information yourequested from the department or entityvia SISI;

• You can check the type of information thedepartments and entities have delivered toother petitioners;

• If the department or entity requires moredata to process your request, you do notneed to neither go in person to any publicoffice, nor spend money to sendclarifications by ordinary mail;

• You can get the payment receipt fromBanco Bital for the reproduction andshipping costs (if you need plain copies,certified copies. 3.5 diskette, CD, etc). Onceyou have paid at any Banco Bital branch, youdo not have to take any additional stepsbecause Banco Bital will inform thedepartment or entity, via SISI, that thepayment was made, and as a result, thedepartment or entity will send theinformation you requested, via registeredmail.

SISI is the electronic mediasystem used to handleinformation requests.

117

ACCESSGUIDE

Filing a request at a public office

You or your representative can file an access toinformation request by directly appearingbefore the corresponding Liaison Unit. Publicservants are obligated to process your requestand to advise you on the most convenient wayto file your request, either via SISI or by means ofa letter or form.

If you choose electronic media (SISI), the LiaisonUnit personnel must provide you with acomputer with Internet access and advice, soyou can complete the request yourself. ThroughSISI you can send an information request to anydepartment or entity, regardless of the placefrom which you are doing it (for example, fromthe Secretary of Internal Affairs’Liaison Unit,youcan file a request to the Secretary of Economy orthe Secretary of Communications andTransportation).

c) Notification about the access ofinformation request and, ifapplicable, payment for reproductionand shipping expenses

• If the information is public and can bedisclosed via Internet, the notice will tell youhow to get it, in which case there shall be nocharge;

• If the information is public and can bereproduced in print or electronic media, thenotification will inform you about thereproduction and shipping costs and on howyou can get the corresponding bankpayment receipt. With that receipt, you cango to any Banco Bital branch in the countryand pay for the corresponding costs. Onceyou have paid, you don’t have to take anyadditional actions because Banco Bital willinform the department or entity, via SISI,

that the payment was made, and thedepartment or entity must send theinformation you requested, via registeredmail, in the media of your choice (plaincopies, certified copies, 3.5 diskette, CD, etc.)

• If the information is public and holdscommercial value, like in the case ofstatistical information sold by INEGI, thenotification will tell you how to get thatinformation and its cost;

• If the documents includes sections orportions containing personal data orconfidential information, the notificationwill state the legal grounds and reasons forthe corresponding classification (it willexplain the damage that the disclosure ofsuch portions could cause), the subsequentperiod of concealment, and the applicablecost for reproduction and shipping, if any;

• If the information is considered privilegedand/or confidential, the notification willstate the legal grounds and reasons for thecorresponding classification (it will explainthe damage that the disclosure could cause,based upon the exception cases set forth byLaw, such as national financial stability) andthe corresponding period of concealment.

Whenever the requestedinformation is public, it shall beavai-lable to the petitioner viaInternet or sent via registeredmail or courier in any of thefollowing formats:1) Hard copy,2) Magnetic media (diskette), or3) Optical media (CD-Rom)

Under no circumstances, can adepartment or entity conditionthe delivery of information.

118

• The notification shall also state wheneverthere are no documents available with therequested information.

d) Request for access to personal data

You (or your legal representative) can requestinformation about your personal data in anydepartment or entity, via ordinary mail orovernight delivery, via e-mail or on theInternet (www.ifai.org.mx), or do it personallyin the Liaison Unit. In this request, you muststate:

• Your name and address or any othermeans to receive notifications, like youre-mail address;

• The particulars of your representative, ifapplicable;

• A description of the data you arerequesting, as well as any additionalinformation to make it easier for thedepartment or entity staff to locate suchpersonal information;

• The means by which you want theinformation to be delivered, either verballyfor consultation purposes, direct reference,simple or certified copies, copies or anyother media; and

• Either you or your legal representativemust show evidence of your legal standingat the time the data is delivered, in order toavoid other people to gain access to yourpersonal data. Only the followingdocuments are acceptable: valid passport,military service book, professional degreecard, or voter registration ID.

Within a period of ten days after you havefiled your request, the Liaison Unit will sendyou a notice, via registered mail, stating if yourdata is available in that department. If yourequested certified copies of your data and/orin written format to be sent to an address byregistered mail with notification, then yourdata shall be delivered within the next tenworkdays from the payment date of thereproduction and/or shipping expenses.

If the data you requested is not available inthe records of the department or entity whereyou requested it, then the Liaison Unit willadvise you as to where you can find suchinformation. You will receive this notificationin written form via registered mail, five daysafter filing your application, with no chargewhatsoever.

If you made any mistake in your request or ifthe department needs you to provide furtherinformation to locate your data, you willreceive a notification of this situation viaregistered mail with acknowledged reciept.You shall have one month to correct or expandyour request. Otherwise, your request shall bedisposed of.

Either you or your legalrepresentative can request accessto information on your personaldata directly from thecorresponding department orentity.

The department or entity willrespond to your requestpersonally or through therepresentative, by certified mail,courier or electronic means(www.ifai.org.mx).

119

ACCESSGUIDE

When the department from which yourequested your personal informationauthorizes its delivery, you shall have threemonths from the date of the notification tocover the reproduction expenses and, ifapplicable, the shipping expenses of thatinformation to the address you provided. Aftersuch term, the authorization will expire andyou will have to file a new request.

If you filed you request to access your person-al data via e-mail or Internet, all thenotifications before the delivery of the datayou requested shall be sent electronically. Youmust state the means by which you wish toreceive your data no later than one monthafter you filed your request; otherwise, it willlose its effect and you will have to file a newrequest.

If you decide to appear personally before theLiaison Unit, the personnel on duty shall beobligated to advise and help you to completethe access to personal data request and allowyou to use the available computers. You canalso complete your request by hand, and theywill ask you to specify both the reproductionmedia and the delivery means of the data yourequested.

Keep in mind that regardless of the way youfile your personal data request, you will haveto show again an official ID to receive it, thuspreventing other people from having accessto your personal data. You will have to do so,even after having identified yourselfpersonally when you filed the request at theLiaison Unit.

e) Written request to correctyour personal data

Either you or your legal representative canrequest a modification of the informationcontained in any personal data system at theLink Unit. For that matter, you must file amodification request, stating themodifications you wish to make and providedocuments in support of your petition at theLiaison Unit, which in turn must tell you,which personal data system contains theinformation you wish to correct. Either theLink Unit must present you with a noticecontaining the changes made in your file,within a period of thirty workdays after filingyour request, or notify you on the reasons whysuch modifications were not applicable. Thisprocedure is free of charge.

f) Clarification of request and servicesto view and correct personal data

If there is a previous request, or service toaccess or correct your personal data, like in thenotices of address change filed in the MexicanInstitute of Social Security or the Tax Ministry,you must use those mechanisms. The LiaisonUnits will explain what to do in those cases.

120

The appeal is the legalinstrument you can use when adepartment or entity deniesaccess to information or yourpersonal data. You must file therecourse at the IFAI.

IFAI has the necessary authority to revoke,modify or confirm the decision made by adepartment or entity regarding your access ofinformation request. You can file an appeal atthe IFAI, at the Liaison Unit where you filedyour request, personally, or by means of yourlegal representative, when:

• The department or entity refuses toprovide the information you requested ornotifies you it does not exist;

• When you are not happy with the term,the shipping cost;

• When you consider that the deliveredinformation is incomplete or does notcorrespond to the requested one;

IFAI also has the necessary authority as torevoke, modify or confirm the decision madeby a department or entity regarding yourrequest to access your personal data or itscorrection. You can file an appeal at the IFAI orthe Link Unit in which you filed your request,personally or by means of your legalrepresentative, at the department or entity:

III.Where can yougo if thedepartment orentity doesn’tprovide youwith therequestedinformation, orwhen they donot submityour personaldata or whenthey do notcorrect it?

1. Appeal before the FederalInstitute of Access to PublicInformation (IFAI)

121

ACCESSGUIDE

From time to time, the Plenum of IFAI willdetermine that the access to informationdenial was justified (legally grounded andmotivated), so the original decision made bythe department or entity shall be confirmed;nevertheless, the Law does not close everydoor to the petitioner.

You can object rulings issued by IFAI before theFederal Judicial Power:

• On your own;

• Through an attorney, and

• Through the Public Defenders Office, of theFederal Judicial Power.

• Does not deliver your personal data;

• When the data is delivered in anincomprehensible format;

• When the department or entity refuses tocorrect or modify your personal data.

You must file an appeal within fifteen workdaysafter the notification date. If you file it at theLiaison Unit, such entity must submit it to theIFAI by means of SISI no later than one day afterits reception. If you have Internet access, eitherat your home, a public place or any other place,the simplest thing to do is to file the appealthrough SISI, at IFAI’s web page(www.ifai.org.mx)

The IFAI has fifty workdays to issue a ruling, anddoes it in two steps. During the first thirtyworkdays, IFAI reviews your case, prepares a fileand a ruling file. Then, the IFAI Commissionersmust rule on your case within the next twentyworkdays (unless they request to extend theterm for another twenty workdays). Thecommittee plenum, with its fiveCommissioners, has powers to revoke or modifythe denials of access to information, and topersonal data or its correction. The plenarycommittee can also discard any appeal if it isconsidered opposed to law or, if such is the case,confirm the decision of the federal department.

The rulings issued by the IFAI are definite anddepartments and entities are in the obligationof performing in compliance of such.Nevertheless, one year after the date of theruling, you can request IFAI to review your case.If so, the Institute must rule on your petitionwithin a maximum of sixty workdays.

The Committee Plenum of theIFAI is integrated by fiveCommissioners and hasoperative, budgetary anddecision-making autonomy.

The rulings issued by the IFAI aredefinite and all departmentsand entities are in the obligation tocomply with them.

2. Objection means before theFederal Judicial Power

Your appeal will not be acceptedif you file it more than fifteenworkdays after the notificationdate.

122

Whenever the necessary means are available,departments and entities will provide,through the Internet and free of charge, therequested public information.

The delivery of your personal information isfree of charge if submitted in simple copiesand if you choose to collect them personallyat the Liaison Unit, or wherever you filed theinitial request.

No department or entity is entitled to chargefor document search and / or revision time torespond to your information requests, accessto personal data or its correction.Furthermore, they cannot charge for the timeinvested in the document reproductionprocess.You can use the computer terminals withaccess to Internet, free of charge, at the SocialAffairs Center in IFAI (Av. México 151, MexicoCity). Also, the Liaison Units must provide freeuse of computer terminals with access toInternet, to file your information requests andto access materials from the correspondingdepartment or entity.

IV.What is thecost of accessto information,to personaldata and itscorrection?

1. Free of charge services

123

ACCESSGUIDE

Departments and entities can charge for thecost of those materials that are necessary toreproduce the requested information. Theyalso charge for the shipping expenses. Thefees vary according to the reproductionformat –simple or certified copy, electronicmeans (diskette), optical means (CD-ROM),audio, visual or other- and the shipment costs–registered mail or courier.

Whenever you request certified copies of yourpersonal data or when such information issent by certified mail, or both, the documentswill not be delivered, until you have coveredthe applicable reproduction and / or deliverycosts.

The costs of the certified copies are thoseprovided in the applicable law.

When the requested information hascommercial value, and its price authorized bylaw, departments or entities could charge youfor that information. Such is the case, forinstance, for publications issued by publicdepartments such as the National Statistics,Geography and Information Institute (INEGI,is the acronym in Spanish) and the PublicTreasury Technical Development Institute(INDETEC, in Spanish), from financialinstitutions such as the Foreign Trade Bank(BANCOMEXT, is its acronym in Spanish) andNational Finance (NAFIN, is the acronym inSpanish), or from some of the universities andresearch centers, amongst others.

Except for the certified copies, the reproduc-tion and correction of personal data shall befree of charge.

After receiving a positive access toinformation notification, you havea term of three months to retrieveit, to start your consultation or tocover the reproduction andshipping costs.

2. Services with cost

124

The Law provides that the Legislative andJudicial powers, as well as any autonomousconstitutional entities, such as IFE, Bank ofMexico and other public institutions withautonomy like UNAM, are obligated toestablish their own criteria and procedures, soyou can access their information. Thesecriteria and procedures can differ, according tothe institution.

You can address these entities to makeconsultations on:

• Their Liaison Units or equivalent;

• Their information committees orequivalent;

• Their access to information procedures,including their appeals;

• Their processes to access and correctpersonal data, and

• Their internal instances responsible for lawenforcement and solutions to the appeals.

Some state governments have recentlypassed their own access to public governmentinformation laws and some others are inprocess of adopting similar laws.

V.How andwhere you canrequestinformationabout theLegislative andJudicial Powers,autonomousentities andthe stategovernments?

125

ACCESSGUIDE

VI.Where can Ilearn moreabout theaccess to infor-mation rights,personal dataprotection andIFAI?

If you wish to learn more about access toinformation rights, personal data protection,access procedures or the IFAI´s activities, werecommend to go to:

• Federal Law of Transparency and Access toPublic Government Information, (LFTAIPG,is the acronym in Spanish);

• The LFTAIPG regulations for the FederalExecutive Power;

• The LFTAIPG regulations for the Legislativeand Judicial Powers and for theautonomous entities, and

• State Laws of Access to Information.

All this regulations are available at IFAI’s webpage: www.ifai.org.mx.

126

127

APPENDIX ATransparencyObligations

128

TRANSPARENCY

IIIIIIIVV

VIVIIVIII

Organizational chart;

Faculties of each administrative unit;

Directory of its public servants, from the Department Principals orequivalent;

Monthly salary per position, including the bonus system, asestablished in the corresponding provisions;

The liaison unit’s address, plus e-mail address where all requests foraccess of information can be received;

The goals and objectives of the administrative units, as per theiroperational programs;

The services they offer;

Procedures, requirements and forms. If registered in the Federal List ofProcedures and Services or in the List established by the Tax Ministryfor that matter, those must be published as registered;

Article 7 of the Federal Law of Transparency and Access to PublicGovernment Information states that all public institutions must disclosethe following information to society:

129

APPENDIX A

X

XI

XIIXIII

IX Information on budgetary allotments, as well as the correspondingfiscal reports, pursuant to the provisions set forth in the FederalBudget of Expenditures. Speaking about the Federal Executive Power,the Treasury Ministry will provide such information per departmentand entity. The Treasury Ministry will also report the economicsituation, the public finance and the public debt, according to theprovisions in the abovementioned Budget of Expenditures;

The findings of budget audits for all departments and entities,performed by either the Comptroller and the Ministry of AdministrativeDevelopment, the internal comptrollers or the Federal Superior Auditand the corresponding clarifications, if applicable;

The design, execution, amounts granted and access criteria to subsidyprograms, as well as the list of beneficiaries of social programsestablished in the Federal Budget of Expenditures Decree;

The granted licenses, permits or authorizations, also stating thenames of the beneficiaries;

The contracts signed according to the provisions set forth in theapplicable law, including the following details about every contract:a) Public construction works, purchased or leased goods and con-

tracted services; regarding studies or research projects, thespecific topic must be stated;

b) The amount;c) The name of the supplier, contractor, individual or entity with

which the contract was signed, andd) Term to complete the contract.

OBLIGATIONS

130

TRANSPARENCY

XIVXVXVIXVII

The regulatory framework applicable to each obligated body;

The reports prepared by the obligated body, according to theprovisions set forth in the law;

The citizens’ participation mechanisms, if applicable; and

Any other useful or relevant information, besides those thatarebased upon statistical data, and answers the questions mostfrequently asked by the public.

131

APPENDIX A

OBLIGATIONS

The above mentioned information must be published in an easy-to-use andcomprehensible manner for the people, ensuring its quality, accuracy, timing andreliability. All departments and entities must adhere to the recommendations issuedby the Institute for this matter.

132

133

APPENDIX BTerms and Costs

134

TERMS AND COSTS

FILED REQUESTPOSITIVE NOTIFICATION.THE INFORMATION ISPUBLIC

LEGAL TIME LIMITS FOR ANINFORMATION REQUEST

• 20 workdays to benotified about the public orconfidential classification ofthe requested information.

135

APPENDIX B

DELIVERY

• The Liaison Unit has 10additional workdays todeli-ver the information.

• The Liaison Unit has 5 workdays toinform that the information is not availablein department. If such is the case, theLiaison Unit must advise the petitioner asto where he/she can find such information.

• The Liaison Unit has 5 workdays toask the petitioner to be more precise in

his/her application. If so, the petitioner has30 days to provide details as for what doeshe/she needs.

• The Liaison Unit can request 20additional workdays, only once,as an extension, in order to find andcompile the information.

FOR SOME EXCEPTIONAL CASES:

136

COSTS

1 pesofor each simple copy

11 pesosfor each certified copy

5 pesosfor a diskette

10 pesosfor a CD

TERMS AND COSTS

* plus shipping expenses

• The petitioner has 3 months to cover theinformation reproduction and shipping expenses,after receiving the notification. After such term, thepetitioner must start all over again.

137

APPENDIX B

If the department does not produce the personal data, produces it in anincomprehensible format or denies making the corrections the petitioner demands,the petitioner can file an appeal.

ACCESS OR CORRECTIONOF PERSONAL DATA

REQUEST OF ACCESSTO PERSONAL DATA

PERSONAL DATACORRECTION REQUEST

RESPONSE

RESPONSE

• The Liaison Unit has10 workdays to deliverthe requested personal data.

• The Liaison Unit has30 workdays to provideevidence of the correctionsmade on the personal data.

138

TERMS AND COSTS

NEGATIVE NOTIFICATIONWhen the department or entity issuesa negative response, the petitioner canfile an Appeal.

• The petitioner receives a negativenotification because of theprivileged or confidentialclassification of such information;

APPEALS

• The petitioner has 15workdays to file and an appealat IFAI, after receiving a negativenotification.

• The information is incomplete;

• The information is not deliveredaccording to the times specified inthe law.

* A n Appeal can also be filed when:

139

APPENDIX B

APPEAL AT IFAI* RULING

• IFAI has 50 workdaysto rule on the appeal.

• IFAI can request 30 additionalworkdays, only once, to completethe appeal file.

• IFAI can request 20 additionalworkdays, only once, to definitivelysolve any ruling project.

FOR SOME EXCEPTIONAL CASES: