Countries › Mexico › Guide › 14. Disputes › Mediation and conciliation in Mexico: the 2024 general law, certified facilitators, registered settlements with res judicata effect, and mediation with the State

Mediation and conciliation in Mexico: the 2024 general law, certified facilitators, registered settlements with res judicata effect, and mediation with the State

Last verified: 2026-10-26 · Status: Changing

Since 27 January 2024 a general law sets uniform rules for negotiation, collaborative negotiation, mediation and conciliation across Mexico, run by facilitators certified by the federal or state judiciary, either in public centers (free) or private centers (fees agreed with both parties), in person or online. A settlement signed by the parties and the facilitator that meets the law's requirements gains res judicata effect once registered in the judiciary's agreements system, must be sent for registration within ten business days, and counts as a public document and an enforceable title under the national procedural code. Government agencies and state productive companies may also settle through public centers where the matter is not contrary to public interest, and pending administrative court cases can be settled by agreements the court approves with res judicata effect.

USD conversions use MXN 18.5026 per US dollar, the US Federal Reserve H.10 noon buying rate in New York for 16 October 2026 (FRED series DEXMXUS), the latest observation available when this page was verified. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

General law on alternative dispute resolution	Yes, Ley General de Mecanismos Alternativos de Solución de Controversias, DOF 26 January 2024 LGMASC, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Business days for the facilitator to send a settlement for registration	10 business daysLGMASC art. 105, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Registered mediated settlements have res judicata effect	Yes, from registration in the agreements system LGMASC art. 98, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Fee for mediation in public centers	None (free) LGMASC art. 6, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Mediated settlements are enforceable titles in the civil executive trial	Yes CNPCF art. 470, section VIII, as of 2026-10-26 · in force

The rule

1. A general law for the whole country. The general law on alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, in force since the day after its publication on 26 January 2024, sets the bases and principles of these mechanisms under Constitution arts. 17 and 73; the national civil and family procedure code applies to anything it does not cover. Listed mechanisms include negotiation, collaborative negotiation (with certified collaborative lawyers), mediation, conciliation (where the facilitator proposes solutions) and arbitration, and they may be carried out online.
Cost to do it: No filing fee in public centers (principle of gratuity, art. 6).Ley General de Mecanismos Alternativos de Solución de Controversias, DOF 26 January 2024 (Chamber of Deputies text), Arts. 1, 3 and 4; transitory art. First, 2024-01-26 official text · verified 2026-10-26

2. Who can act: certified facilitators, public or private. The mechanisms are applied by public or private facilitators and collaborative lawyers certified by the federal or state judiciary, and by the federal and local administrative courts in their areas. A certification issued in one state takes effect in another only once registered in that state's registry of facilitators. Public mechanisms, and those run by administrative courts, autonomous bodies and the public administration, are free; private facilitators charge the fees agreed with both parties, which must not be excessive or disproportionate.
Cost to do it: Public centers: free. Private centers: fees agreed with both parties (art. 61); the law sets no amounts.Ley General de Mecanismos Alternativos de Solución de Controversias, DOF 26 January 2024 (Chamber of Deputies text), Arts. 2, 6 (gratuity), 34 and 61, 2024-01-26 official text · verified 2026-10-26

3. Confidentiality and voluntary participation. Principles include access to alternative justice, autonomy of will, good faith and confidentiality: information shared in the mechanism and known to facilitators, collaborative lawyers and participating third parties cannot be disclosed, subject to the law's exceptions and data protection law. At the start the facilitator proposes preventive actions (obligations to give, do or not do agreed by the parties until a settlement); if the parties do not agree on them, the mechanism continues.
Cost to do it: No cost; agreeing preventive actions early can protect assets during talks.Ley General de Mecanismos Alternativos de Solución de Controversias, DOF 26 January 2024 (Chamber of Deputies text), Arts. 6 and 70, 2024-01-26 official text · verified 2026-10-26

4. What a settlement must contain, and registration within ten business days. The agreement must state place and date, identity and representation of the parties (for companies, proof of existence and powers), a folio number, the obligations to give, do or not do with form, time and place of performance, signatures, the effects of non compliance and how to enforce it in court, and the facilitator's name, certification number and signature. If the facilitator is not a lawyer, a licensed lawyer may sign to record a technical legal review; the facilitator answers for defects. The facilitator must send the signed agreement to the agreements system within ten business days for registration. If the center finds a defect it gives ten business days to fix it; if not fixed, the agreement is deemed not filed, is not registered and does not gain res judicata effect.
Cost to do it: Have a lawyer review the agreement (art. 95) so that it registers at the first attempt.Ley General de Mecanismos Alternativos de Solución de Controversias, DOF 26 January 2024 (Chamber of Deputies text), Arts. 94, 95, 103, 104 and 105, 2024-01-26 official text · verified 2026-10-26

5. Res judicata effect from registration, and enforcement as an executive title. Agreements signed by the parties and the facilitator that comply with the principles and the facilitator's duties have res judicata effect from their registration in the agreements system. They must also comply with the anti money laundering law. Where the agreement includes an act that must be in a public deed (for example a real estate transfer), it can be annotated in the public registry only if the parties so state, and the annotation lapses within at most three years unless the deed is granted. Under the national procedural code, mediation and conciliation agreements meeting the law's requirements are public documents and carry execution, so they can be enforced through the executive trial.
Cost to do it: Registry fees for any annotation are paid by the parties (art. 100).
Example: A registered agreement to pay MXN 4,625,650 in four instalments can be enforced through an executive trial if an instalment is missed. / About USD 250,000.Ley General de Mecanismos Alternativos de Solución de Controversias, DOF 26 January 2024 (Chamber of Deputies text); Código Nacional de Procedimientos Civiles y Familiares, DOF 7 June 2023 (Chamber of Deputies consolidated text, last reform DOF 15 January 2026), LGMASC arts. 98, 99 and 100; CNPCF arts. 312 (section X) and 470 (section VIII), 2024-01-26 official text · verified 2026-10-26

6. Settling with the State and in the administrative court. Federal, state and municipal agencies, public powers, state productive companies and autonomous bodies may take part in public centers through their heads or legal offices, provided the mechanism is not contrary to the legal order or public interest and does not concern rights that cannot be waived. In pending administrative court cases, signed agreements go to the instructing magistrate, who decides whether to end the case; once approved they have res judicata effect and are published; agreements on compliance with judgments are declared as compliance.
Cost to do it: No fee in administrative court centers (art. 6, gratuity).Ley General de Mecanismos Alternativos de Solución de Controversias, DOF 26 January 2024 (Chamber of Deputies text), Arts. 7, 8, 132, 136 and 137, 2024-01-26 official text · verified 2026-10-26

7. Judges also conciliate inside the oral commercial trial. In the oral commercial trial, the preliminary hearing includes conciliation and mediation by the judge between the parties, before evidence is admitted: the judge proposes solutions, approves a lawful settlement on the spot with res judicata effect, and the parties may not invoke at any later stage anything said about the proposals.
Cost to do it: No fee; it is part of the hearing.Código de Comercio, DOF 7 October to 13 December 1889 (Chamber of Deputies consolidated text, last reform DOF 14 November 2025, amounts updated by agreement DOF 18 February 2026), Arts. 1390 Bis 32 and 1390 Bis 35, 2011-01-27 official text · verified 2026-10-26

8. Transition: one year to adapt, then direct application. Congress and the state legislatures had at most one year to adapt their laws; if they did not, fully or partly, the general law applies directly. Mechanisms started before 27 January 2024 continue under the old rules, and certifications issued before then remain valid until they expire.
Cost to do it: No cost; check the state law and registry where the facilitator is certified.Ley General de Mecanismos Alternativos de Solución de Controversias, DOF 26 January 2024 (Chamber of Deputies text), Transitory arts. Second to Fifth and Tenth, 2024-01-26 official text · verified 2026-10-26

Point	Public center	Private center	Rule
Who runs it	Judiciary or administrative court center	Certified private facilitator	LGMASC arts. 2, 5
Cost	Free	Fees agreed with both parties, not excessive	LGMASC arts. 6, 61
State entities as parties	Yes	Art. 7 refers to public centers	LGMASC art. 7
Registration	Agreements system of the judiciary	Sent within 10 business days	LGMASC art. 105
Effect	Res judicata from registration	Res judicata from registration	LGMASC art. 98
Enforcement	Executive trial	Executive trial	CNPCF art. 470, section VIII

Mediation in public and private centers, verified 26 October 2026 against the LGMASC and the CNPCF.

Worked example

A Peruvian logistics company and a Mexican retailer dispute MXN 4,625,650 (about USD 250,000) of unpaid freight. They choose a certified private facilitator in Mexico City and agree the fee with the center in advance (art. 61).
At the first session they agree as a preventive action that the retailer will not sell the warehouse holding the goods (art. 70). They sign a settlement with four monthly instalments, reviewed by a lawyer (art. 95), which the facilitator sends for registration within ten business days (art. 105).
Once registered, the settlement has res judicata effect (art. 98); when the retailer misses the third instalment, the company enforces it through an executive trial (CNPCF art. 470, section VIII).

Step by step

1. Check that the facilitator is certified and registered in the state where the settlement will be registered (art. 34).
2. Agree the fee in writing with a private center, or use a free public center.
3. Propose preventive actions at the first session if assets are at risk (art. 70).
4. Draft the settlement with every item of art. 94, including the effects of non compliance and how to enforce it.
5. Confirm registration in the agreements system; without it the settlement has no res judicata effect (arts. 98 and 104).
6. If a limitation period is close, protect it separately, by suing or by a written acknowledgment of debt.

Common traps

Unregistered settlements. Without registration there is no res judicata effect (arts. 98 and 104).
Assuming mediation tolls limitation. The law does not say that starting a mediation suspends commercial periods.
Real estate in a settlement. Transfers still need the deed and formalities, and the registry annotation lapses within three years (arts. 99 and 100).
Uncertified facilitators or certificates from another state not registered locally (art. 34).
Ignoring anti money laundering rules. Settlements must comply with the federal AML law (art. 98).

Sources

← Investment treaty arbitration with Mexico: ICSID since 2018, the narrow USMCA routes for US investors, CPTPP for other partners, and enforcement of awardsChallenging regulators and federal agencies in Mexico: administrative review, the Federal Administrative Court, suspension, the summary trial and the June 2026 reform →