Civic culture law in Mexico City
The Civic Culture Law in Mexico City (formerly known as Distrito Federal) published in the Distrito Federal’s Official Gazette on May 31st, 2004 is a social code that seeks to guarantee respectful relations and harmonious coexistence in Mexico City, thus it’s fundamental that citizens know the civic behavior rules and their corresponding penalties.
In this order of ideas, and to understand a little more about this law’s targets it’s necessary to quote the 1st article of such code, which copied verbatim, reads:
Article 1. The present Law is public and has a social interest, will rule in Mexico City and its aim is:
- Establish minimum rules of civic behavior
- Guarantee the respect of people, public and private goods, and regulate Mexico’s City Public Administration operation in its preservation;
- Determine the actions for its fulfillment;
- Promote the legality culture which strengthens harmonious coexistence, the city’s ruling order spreading, besides the knowledge of citizens and public servants rights and obligations, and
- A peace culture promotion.[1]
In this order of ideas, actions like harm vehicles because of a crash, mistreat people physically or verbally, littering and disturbing the peace due to hitting objects and quarrels, are some of the legal acts penalized by this legal code.
Likewise, the Law considers several penalties in case that the enumerated conducts in its 128 articles are updated. For example, we can expose that, in case the offender doesn’t pay the imposed fine, it will be exchanged by the corresponding arrest, which won’t be over thirty-six hours.
Finally, it’s worth to point out that the Civic Culture Law considers in its 124th section an Offenders Record, which will contain people’s information that would have been penalized for committing a violation described in such instrument; likewise enumerates the data that such record must contain about people that would have been penalized for committing any of the established infractions, to know, such data are:
- Name, address, gender, and the offender’s fingerprints;
- Infractions committed;
- Place where the infraction was committed;
- Penalty and, given the case, the place to fulfill the arrest;
- Activities to be done to support the community, and
- Offender’s photography.
[1] Distrito Federal Civic Culture Law, Legislative Assembly.