On June 8, 2023, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) resolved the constitutional controversy brought by the Federal Economic Competition Commission (processed under case file 94/2021), invalidating the decree by which the Law for Transparency, Prevention and Combating of Improper Practices in the Contracting of Advertising was issued, on the grounds that the Congress of the Union committed various violations of the legislative procedure.
The decree that issued the Law, which had entered into force on September 1, 2021, established significant changes in the operation of the provision of advertising services regardless of the medium of dissemination and was intended, among other things, to combat certain practices, mainly those relating to the resale of advertising spaces. In other words, this Law modified the way in which advertisers, agencies, and digital media had been operating, and generated important changes in the contracting and invoicing structure of both traditional and digital advertising media. The SCJN emphasized that, in the case of this Law, there were violations of the legislative procedure, among others, because there was not a good quality of debate due to the lack of timely and informed knowledge on the part of the legislators. In addition, it considered that there was no participation under conditions of freedom and equality, since the political parties were unable to express and defend their opinions. It should be noted that the Federal Economic Competition Commission also raised arguments in relation to the content of the Law’s provisions (constitutional controversy processed under case file 94/2021). However, these were not resolved, as the violations of the legislative procedure were sufficient to invalidate the decree, which was also challenged by the Federal Telecommunications Institute (constitutional controversy processed under case file 93/2021); nevertheless, in this latter case it was resolved to dismiss the controversy, since the effects of the decree had ceased as a result of the controversy brought by the Federal Economic Competition Commission. For more information on the implications of the invalidity of the Law, please contact: Patricia Kaim, Partner: +52 (55) 5258 1038 | pkaim@vwys.com.mx Silverio Sandate, Associate: +52 (55) 5258-1013 | ssandate@vwys.com.mx
