Ciencia Jurídica (CJ) is an open-access scientific journal, published every six months, available in print (ISSN: 2007-3577) and electronic format (ISSN-e: 2007-6142). Its objective is to disseminate theoretical and practical studies on different legal disciplines, elaborated by national and foreign specialists. The journal is aimed at academics, legal professionals and people interested in the legal field. Its distribution is free of charge, in line with its vocation to promote critical analysis and debate on contemporary legal problems. Ciencia Jurídica does not pursue commercial purposes. Its financing comes from the University of Guanajuato through the Law Department of the Law, Politics and Government Division. The entire editorial process, from the reception to the publication of articles, is completely free of charge for authors and readers. The journal welcomes original and unpublished contributions in Spanish that address any of the legal disciplines. Also considered unpublished are those texts previously published in another language, as long as they are presented for the first time translated into Spanish.
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Issue 29 of Ciencia Jurídica offers a collection of studies that engage with the central debates of contemporary legal science. The works gathered here incorporate dogmatic, constitutional, criminal policy, socio-legal, and public policy reflections, each with methodologies and approaches that enrich the legal field and allow for an understanding of normative and factual phenomena of high relevance to the constitutional state.
Copyright (c) 2026 Leandro Eduardo Astrain Bañuelos https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
The text critically reviews Alejandro Nava Tovar's work Punitive Populism, highlighting his analysis of the contemporary hardening of criminal policy and its regressive impact on fundamental rights. The author examines how punitive populism, driven by the media and social pressure, favors the expansion of criminal law and the central use of prison. The theses of exclusion of alternative measures and
Copyright (c) 2025 Leandro Eduardo Astrain Bañuelos https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Environmental education as a crosscutting axis
Environmental education, rather than being a subject within the curricula and programs of educational institutions, can be conceived as a tool or transformative strategy to address the climate crisis facing the planet, much of which is the result of human actions. The present study aims to analyze the integration of environmental education into the Mexican education system and its articulation with environmental law and citizenship training derived from its implementation. To achieve this goal, a qualitative approach is used, reviewing the applicable legal framework in environmental matters and presenting case studies of the integration of environmental education in schools, particularly in basic education.
Copyright (c) 2025 Adriana Yolanda Flores Castillo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
The article analyzes the legal issues raised by the calculation of procedural deadlines in electronic justice systems, particularly the case in which a lawsuit was dismissed because it was filed at “00:00 hours” through the Online Justice System of the Federal Court of Administrative Justice (TFJA). This event raises an interpretative dilemma involving the tension between procedural formalism and the principle of effective judicial protection. Based on the theory of legal argumentation, an interpretation is proposed that guarantees rights in accordance with Article 17 of the Constitution, in which the time of “00:00 hours” should be understood as the last moment of the expiration date. The aim is to harmonize legal certainty with effective access to justice in the digital context.
Copyright (c) 2025 Marvin Alfredo Gómez Ruiz, Ana Lucía Esquivel Ramírez https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
The problem of summary proceedings in crimes of gender-based violence against women
The procedures that the judiciary contemplates for resolving cases of gender-based violence against women are ordinary. However, they have been resolved more frequently through summary proceedings, the characteristics of which have been reviewed in criminal matters, both in terms of what is indicated by law and what is defined in doctrine, in order to determine whether crimes of gender-based violence against women can be resolved through this form of summary prosecution. Two samples are also presented: the first, of ten cases of women who suffer serious assaults after reporting them; and the second, of ten judgments from the entity with the highest rate of crimes of violence against women. The result is that there is a misinterpretation of the law, and therefore sufficient grounds to prohibit the application of summary proceedings in this type of crime.
Copyright (c) 2025 Cecilia Martínez Gómez https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Punitive populism, considerations regarding the crime of animal abuse and the limits of the punitive power of the State, with special emphasis on the principle of proportionality
According to Antonio Carrillo Flores, historically, the fundamental rights of peoples have achieved or are achieving recognition not thanks to passive awareness, but rather to militant awareness, in the sense of fighting and taking risks for a cause in which they believe. Clear examples of this are the American and French revolutions. However, these processes fought for very specific rights, such as freedom, equality, and the abolition of slavery. Today, we see a conceptual problem regarding what is considered fundamental rights, and this seems to have led to significant problems. In this regard, it is worth considering the questions raised by Carrillo Flores and applying them to the specific issue of criminal protection for animals. Are we willing to fight for the recognition of animal rights? Will we assume the risks and consequences of doing so? If the answer is yes, we can then ask: is criminal protection by the state the best solution, or are there more effective alternatives? The recognition of animals as holders of a criminal legal right is contrary to the principles that guide the path to a functional criminal law that respects human rights. Therefore, the following study analyzes, in light of these principles, whether criminal protection of animals is appropriate.
Copyright (c) 2025 Rafael Landeros-Peredo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
The text outlines the evolution of the concept of legal interest as the basis for legitimizing criminal law, reviewing its apparent tension with Günther Jakobs' functionalist thesis on the validity of the norm. It also presents the historical development of legal interests since Birnbaum and von Liszt, highlighting their normative nature and their function of limiting the legislator, and later synthesizes the functionalist critique, according to which criminal law does not protect interests but rather the communicative stability of the system by reaffirming the violated norm. In this way, these objections are analyzed, recognizing their merits but emphasizing their limitations: the legal interest is not exhausted in naturalistic categories, it fulfills a preventive and guaranteeing function, and it cannot be replaced by a self-referential conception of the norm; thus, the protection of legal interests and normative validity are not mutually exclusive functions, but complementary dimensions of the criminal justice system. Finally, it is concluded that the legal right remains an essential concept for defining injustice and justifying criminal intervention in a democratic state.
Copyright (c) 2025 Miguel Polaino Navarrete https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
The organizational control in institution building
The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive overview of organizational oversight, using a qualitative approach to describe the tools for addressing the effects of the spread of corruption. Despite the development of legal frameworks, this effort is insufficient, and even resorting to conventionality, such as express recognition of the impact on human rights, has achieved little. A conceptual analysis of legal fidelity is presented, which addresses the principles and purposes of the law, in order to legitimize it in society, as outlined in the text. Given this scenario, data are shared that highlight the need to contain the effects of corruption through proper organizational oversight so that its effects strengthen the integrity policy.
Copyright (c) 2025 Omar David Jiménez Ojeda https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
The flexible law and the thinking of Gustavo Zagrebelsky
Gustavo Zagrebelsky has distinguished himself as one of the leading figures in modern constitutionalism. His work is unique in that it has been developed not only from the solid foundation of scientific rigor that characterizes this legal theorist, but also from his experience as a constitutional judge, which has allowed for a fusion of legal dogma and practice in both his rulings and his books. This work arises from a seminar dedicated to the analysis of the thinking of renowned jurists, identified as leading figures in legal thought. In this work, the reader will find a profile of the person and an approach to the jurist, delving into one of his most widely read works, El derecho Dúctil: Ley. Rights and Justice, which clearly reflects the role of judges in the interpretation of law, emphasizing its malleable and flexible nature, without this implying a weakening of the legal order, but rather recognizing that it has the necessary quality to adapt and respond to the challenges of today's democratic societies, in which the Constitution stands as a living norm and guarantor of human rights.
Copyright (c) 2026 Jesús Arellano Gómez https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Re-victimization in vehicle theft in Morelia
This study analyzes the problem of victimization and revictimization in Morelia, Michoacán, with a special focus on vehicle theft. It argues that the authorities' failure to fulfill their constitutional mandate to protect citizens causes additional harm to victims during the process of recovering their property. The research reveals inefficiencies in the justice system and the unexpected economic costs that victims must bear to recover their vehicles from impound lots, which aggravates their situation. The study details the capacity and operation of public and private impound lots in Morelia, Michoacán, exposing discrepancies in official information and the lack of a clear legal framework for the return of vehicles at no cost to the victim. It highlights the urgent need for the state to assume financial responsibility for impoundment costs and optimize procedures to avoid revictimization, proposing legislative reforms that guarantee the restitution of property at no cost, as part of the state's obligation to ensure legal and public safety.
Copyright (c) 2025 Vianey Bonilla Medina, Carlos Salvador Rodríguez Camarena https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
State of legal literacy in the New System of Civic Justice Administration in the State of Chihuahua
The Approved Model of Civic Justice emerged in 2016 as a national public policy for the administration of civic justice in Mexico's municipalities, providing a restorative, preventive approach aimed at strengthening community coexistence and a culture of legality. This research seeks to analyze, from a legal perspective, how this model inspired the new Civic Justice Administration System of the State of Chihuahua of 2024, in the context of the management of restorative justice principles focused on adolescents, considering both the alleged offender and their family and social environment. It concludes that the benefits of this model have not permeated the general population, and that both juvenile offenders and their guardians are clearly unaware of it.
Copyright (c) 2025 Miguel Angel Villa Acosta, Fidel Gonzalez-Quiñones, Rodrigo Ramírez-Tarango https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
This new issue of Ciencia Jurídica is particularly special, not only because it brings together a wide range of perspectives and topics that reflect both the dynamism and complexity of contemporary legal thought, but also because of its dossier, which highlights Ciencia Jurídica’s strong interest in fostering scientific exchange within our region. Focusing on the link between legal research and the social environment, the dossier explores how legal knowledge can address current social challenges. Through case studies and normative analyses, it examines the advances and tensions that affect the consolidation of a constitutional state in Latin America, highlighting the transformative role of law in institutional development, sustainability, and social justice.
Three Topics on the Expansion and Recognition of (New) Rights by the Constitutional Courts
A collective work coordinated by Giovanni Azael Figueroa Mejía and Juan Manuel López Ull examines the role of constitutional courts in the expansion of fundamental rights, questioning the traditional model of the judge as a mere negative legislator. Through three thematic axes - the judicial function in constitutionalism, the interpretation of the Constitution, and judicial scrutiny in the face of normative discrimination - the legitimacy of the judge as an active agent in the realization of rights is argued. The book invites us to rethink the limits and scope of the judiciary in democratic contexts. The analysis highlights the relevance of these debates in the current Latin American legal scenario.
Copyright (c) 2025 Jesús Everardo Rodríguez Durón https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
This review examines the judgment of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the case of Tagaeri and Taromenane vs. Ecuador, emphasizing the significance of recognizing indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation (PIAV) through legal means. It highlights the international responsibility of the Ecuadorian State for multiple violations of fundamental rights, in the context of extractive activities and structural omissions. The analysis highlights the tension between development models and collective rights, and proposes an ethical review of the governance regime over indigenous territories. The text emphasizes the need to protect the self-determination and cultural identity of indigenous peoples as a legal and humanitarian imperative.
Copyright (c) 2025 Ricardo Rodríguez Luna https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
The Definition Of Land Clearing In Argentina and its Impact on Exports in Relation to Eu Regulation 2023/1115 on Deforestation-Free Products
Deforestation and land clearing pose significant environmental challenges that necessitate effective regulatory responses. This paper examines the role of the concept of land clearing as regulated under Argentina's Native Forest Law No. 26,331 in Argentine exports, along with the various definitions established in the European Union's Regulation 1115/2023 on deforestation-free products. Furthermore, it highlights the significance of land clearing in meeting the standards imposed by the EU.
Copyright (c) 2025 Gabriel Alejandro Martínez https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Artificial intelligence has become a vitally important tool in society today, and its application in the legal world is no exception. This has made it necessary for the legal field to understand this topic in order to understand how it works, how it is applied, and also the risks involved, especially within the field of punitive administrative law.
Copyright (c) 2025 Lizbeth Xóchitl Padilla Sanabria https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Childhood social protection in human mobility contexts
This study examines the challenges in social protection for children in migratory contexts following the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on barriers to accessing state programs such as the Universal Child Allowance (AUH) and the Emergency Family Income (IFE). Through a critical review of academic literature, public reports, and national/international regulations and jurisprudence, it was found that despite the recognition and consolidation of protection standards for migrant children and adolescents (NNA), bureaucratic obstacles persist (e.g., requirements for specific identity documents, minimum residency periods, or particular residency statuses), limiting their access to social programs. Evidence also shows how the pandemic exacerbated pre-existing inequalities and highlighted structural and historical inclusion issues, exposing the contradiction between the universalist discourse of social policies and exclusionary administrative practices based on migratory status. Key conclusions emphasize the urgent need to eliminate discriminatory requirements, to expedite migration regularization processes, and to ensure accessible information. These factors continue to widen the native-foreigner gap in rights access, further hindering comprehensive protection for migrant children.
Copyright (c) 2025 Nicolás A. Maiarota https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
This article aims to contribute to the ongoing debate surrounding the integration of sustainability into competition policy and regulation, with special attention to the Latin American context. By identifying recent developments at the regional and international levels, highlighting trends, tensions, and opportunities; the article concludes with a set of recommendations aimed at strengthening a regional approach that views competition law as a tool within the legal field that has the potential to foster sustainable markets.
Copyright (c) 2025 Matías Ignacio Rostán https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Local governments, federalism, and development
This research adopts a mixed-methods approach, predominantly qualitative in nature, and integrates exploratory, explanatory, and correlational designs. Its primary objective is to develop a critical and forward-looking assessment of the role of local governments within Argentina’s system of fiscal federalism. The analysis is grounded in the dynamics of intergovernmental relations and the distribution of competencies defined by the country’s legal, political, institutional, fiscal, and financial framework across the national, provincial, and municipal levels. Argentine municipalities face persistent structural challenges—such as limited fiscal autonomy, a high dependency on intergovernmental transfers, and significant territorial disparities—that constrain their effectiveness in public policy implementation. Based on this diagnosis, the study proposes concrete strategies to strengthen the role of local governments through a bottom-up reconstruction approach, aimed at fostering a more equitable, efficient, and participatory model of federal development.
Copyright (c) 2025 Luciano Carlos Rezzoagli https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
In a world shaped by the advancement of new technologies, opportunities arise for the development of a government that operates under new strategies, characterized by the strengthening of democratic institutions through participation, efficiency, and transparency. This new paradigm shift reflects the incorporation of innovative methodologies, ensuring standards that address the proximity to citizens, promoting equality and access, while simultaneously facing new challenges. In this context, the public administration of Santa Fe (Argentina) finds itself with a renewed outlook for public management, where the transformation underway represents just the beginning of a process that demands continuous and sustained effort to consolidate its progress.
Copyright (c) 2025 Agustín José Scaglia https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
The guarantee of the human right to food in the constitutional state
This paper presents in general terms the C.A.I.+D. 2020 research project of the Universidad Nacional del Litoral (Action Course for Research and Development-Call 2020) entitled «The Protection of the Human Right to Food. An analysis of the regulation of food security in Argentina» based at the Research Center of the Faculty of Legal and Social Sciences of UNL. This project aims to carry out a survey, systematization and critical-reflective analysis of the socio-legal regulations on food, with the aim of providing some guidelines on legislation and public policies that address the problem of hunger and malnutrition from a comprehensive perspective in Argentina. First, the objectives, hypothesis and general assumption of the project are summarized, referring to the fragmentation of the regulation of food security and the tensions that this may present with the fulfillment state obligations on the human right to food. The methodological tools used are then outlined, as well as some difficulties presented by the legal investigation of the guarantee the human right to food. Thirdly, some experiences of linking to the environment are listed based on the results achieved in the case studies developed by the research team. Finally, some reflections on the results and challenges presented during the research are outlined.
Copyright (c) 2025 María Eugenia Marichal, Lucena Spano Tarvino https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Type of social networks on the Internet and their use in electoral politics
The purpose of this paper is to explain the main characteristics of social networks on the Internet used by people who are engaged in politics and hold a public office, showing the main uses they have and how to identify, whether they are created specifically to meet the functions of the office, a candidacy, or if they are dedicated to disseminate information sporadically or share personal activities and interests. The above highlights the challenges, risks and advantages for those who use them to generate content to guarantee their right to free expression and information, as well as for the people who receive it in use of their right to be informed in order to make decisions, guide their vote and, if applicable, evaluate their candidacies or popular representatives.
Copyright (c) 2025 Enrique José Chaires Velasco https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Protagonists of legal thought Prof. Dr. Dr. Hc Mult. Claus Roxin (Germany)
This paper, presented at the permanent seminar "Protagonists of Legal Thought," aims to outline the life and work of the renowned German professor Claus Roxin, the most important criminal lawyer of the last 100 years, who recently passed away at the age of 93. His contributions to criminal law, his academic output, and the worldwide importance of his work, as well as the influence, over the past sixty years of his thinking in academia and its application in the courts, allow us to visualize his intellectual greatness, personal quality, and generosity. His kind smile and simplicity were captivating. With infinite gratitude to the professor for his legacy, we say that today criminal law is in mourning.
Copyright (c) 2025 Karla Alejandra Escárcega Robledo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
The role of scribes in the Mexican historical process
We have access to many articles and books written to reconstruct the history of the Mexican judicial institutions, most of them express that French, British, German and North American institutions influenced persistently the Mexican institutions since the 18th Century, but we have forgotten the Hispanic roots. That is the reason why in this article we study the Spanish legacy in the notarial functions. We study this item from the Law and History perspective, with examples from the Guanajuato’s archives from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Copyright (c) 2025 María Guevara Sanginés, Diego León Rábago https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Elena Esposito's work Artificial Communication is analyzed from a legal-systemic perspective, highlighting the effects of algorithmic communication on law and social rationality. The author emphasizes that algorithms do not produce meaning or knowledge, but rather operate through structured response expectations based on large volumes of data. Phenomena such as profiling, the erosion of the right to be forgotten, and the artificial closure of the future through predictive practices are problematized. Likewise, the risk of transferring these logics to the legal sphere, especially criminal law, is noted due to their potential impact on human rights. The review concludes that the central challenge is not the attribution of rights to machines, but the establishment of legitimate obligations, controls, and regulatory frameworks on the use of data and algorithmic technologies.
Copyright (c) 2025 Ángel Gutiérrez Escobedo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Transición energética y derechos de los pueblos indígenas en México
The article “Energy transition and indigenous peoples' rights in Mexico: an analysis from the perspective of justice and energy democracy” examines the impacts of the energy transition on Indigenous communities in Mexico. It explores how large-scale renewable energy projects, such as wind farms in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and solar plants in Sonora, have triggered socio-environmental conflicts due to the lack of free, prior, and informed consultation (FPIC), land dispossession, and the exclusion of Indigenous peoples from economic benefits. The document employs a methodology based on rights unpacking, case analysis, and a human rights approach to assess the compatibility of Mexico’s energy policies with international standards. It identifies systematic violations of territorial rights, consultation rights, and environmental justice, proposing legal and policy reforms to ensure a fair and sustainable energy transition.
free, prior, and informed consultation (FPIC)
Copyright (c) 2025 José Israel Herrera https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Some Statistics about Corruption and Goverment Impunity in México
On this article, we check and enumerate different instruments that measure, directly and indirectly, government corruption in Mexico, a correlation between some of them to understand the phenomenon of impunity of public servants related to acts of corruption, and how it is not adequately attacked.
Copyright (c) 2025 Rubén Díaz López https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Ciencia Jurídica is a publication committed to promoting original research and critical reflections on the most complex issues within the law. For this reason, this new issue has emphasized the complexity involved in building a legal framework capable of finding resonance within our society. Thus, this issue is made up of a selection of articles that address issues of profound significance, through the plurality of perspectives and methodological approaches, confirming our vocation for scientific excellence and the social relevance of the topics addressed.
The Overregulation of Forest Inspection and Surveillance in the Federal and State Regulations of Michoacán de Ocampo
It is analyzed whether forest inspection and monitoring is "over-regulated" through the federal forest regulatory framework implemented by the Federal Environmental Protection Office through the delegation of the National Forestry Commission, and the state forest regulatory framework, carried out by the Michoacán State Forestry Commission. Thus the results in an applied interview, the comparative analysis of federal and state forestry legislation and the calculation of the average annual availability of national watersestablish that there is a violation of the objective of forest rulesin relation to inspection and surveillance. Cross sectionally, it was demonstrated that the federal and state authorities have failed to protect the forest resources, in addition, to a decrease in water resources at the study site of 34,067.7 m3.
Copyright (c) 2025 Héctor Chávez Gutiérrez, Omar Said Marín Leyva https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
The interview is part of the project The Return of Cruelty in Law, approved by the Research and Graduate Studies Department of the University of Guanajuato in its Call for Support for Professors 2024 – Group Modality “G” (Organizing Committee: Dr. Eduardo Pérez Alonso, Dr. Leandro Eduardo Astrain Bañuelos and Dr. Francisco M. Mora-Sifuentes).
Copyright (c) 2025 Francisco M. Mora Sifuentes https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0