MKCICAN ElgiERr lEGISLATION 



APPEfflttl VI 



EXCERPTS FROM 



MEHCAN CONSTIIUTION 



Article 27. The ownership of the lands and waters congsrised within the boundaries 

 of the national territory is vested originally in the Nation, which has had, and has, the 

 right to transmit title thereof to piT.vate persons, thereby constituting private property. 



Private property shall not be expropriated except for reasons of public utility and 

 subject to payment of indemnity. 



■flie Nation shall at all times have the right to impose on private property such 

 limitations as the public interest may demand, as well as tte right to regulate the 

 utilization of natural resources which are subject to appropriation, in order to conserve 

 them and to insure a more equitable distribution of the public wealth. With this end in 

 view, the necessary measures shall be taken to divide \sp large landed estates; to develop 

 small landed holdings in operation; to create new agricultural communities with the 

 indispensable land and waters; to encourage agidculture in general and to prevent the 

 desti'uction of natui^al resources, and to protect property from damage to the detriment of 

 society. Centers of population which at present either have no lands or v/ater or which do 

 not possess them in sufficient quantities for the needs of their inhabitants, shall be 

 entitled to grants thereof, which shall be taken from adjacent properties, the rights of 

 small landed holdi.ngs in operation being respected at all times. 



In the Nation is vested the direct ownership of all minerals or substances which, in 

 veins, ledges, masses or ore-pockets, form deposits of a nature distinct from that of the 

 earth itself, such as the minerals from which industrial metals and metaloids are extract- 

 ed; deposits of precious stones, rocksalt and the deposits of salt formed by sea water; 

 products derived from the decon^osiiion of rocks, when subterranean ^^'orks are required for 

 their extraction; mineral or organic deposits of materials susceptible to utilization as 

 fertilizers; solid mineral fuel; petroleum, and all solid, liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons. 



In the Nation is likewise vested the ownership of the waters of the territorial seas, 

 to the extent and within the limits fixed by International Law; of the waters of lagoons 

 and estuaries which connect intermittently or permanently with the sea; of the waters of 

 inland lakes of natural formation which are directly connected with streams having a 

 constant flow; of the waters of rivers and their direct or indirect tributaries, from the 

 soxirce of their first permanent, intermittent or torrential waters to their outlet into 

 the sea, lakes, lagoons or estuaries of national ownership; of the waters of streams 

 having a constant or intermittent flow and of their direct or indirect tributaries, when- 

 ever the bed of the former, throughout their entire extent or part of sane, forms National 

 or two State boundary lines or passes from one State to another or crosses the National 

 boundai'y 3j.ne; of the waters of lakes, lagoons or estuaries whose beds, zones or banks are 

 crossed by the boundary lines of two ormore States or by the National boundary line or 

 when the limit of the banks serves as the National boundary line or as the boundary between 

 two States; of the waters of springs which rise on beaches, maritime zones, beds or banks 

 of lakes, lagoons or estuciries of National ownership and of the v.aters extracted from mines. 

 Water in the subsoil may be extracted freely by artificial works and be appropriated by the 

 owner of the land, but whenever public interests so demand or other utilizations are affect- 

 ed, the Federal Executive is empowered to regulate its extraction and utilization and even 

 to establish closed areas, the same as for the other waters of national ownership. Any 

 other waters not ccxnprised in the foregoing enumeration shall be deemed as an integral part 

 of the property through which they flow or the deposits are found, but if located on two or 

 more properties, the utilization of such water shall be considered of public welfare and 

 shall be subject to the rulings that may be passed by the States. 



In the cases to which the two preceding paragraphs refer, the ownership of the Nation 

 shall be inalienable and inprescriptible; and concessions shall only be granted by the 



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