Abstract

CASAR, María Amparo; LUNA JIMENEZ, Janet de; AGUILAR MENDEZ, Víctor  and  ALVARADO ANDALON, Ricardo. Freedom of Speech in Mexico: Between Immunity and Impunity. Polít. gob [online]. 2018, vol.25, n.2, pp.339-377. ISSN 1665-2037.

Freedom of speech, also known as inviolability, is a legal instrument for certain political actors, originally designed to avoid abuses among power spheres; nevertheless, during recent years this instrument has been considered a synonym of impunity. In order to explore the relationship between inviolability and impunity, we analyzed the freedom of speech legal frame in Mexico and other 30 countries, to detect its many modes, as well as which public officials are protected, from which crimes and the process needed to remove it. We found that Mexico grants one of the largest immunities to a relatively large number of civil servants and it has only been removed to eight individuals since 1917 up to date.

Keywords : immunity; freedom of speech; legislators; checks and balances.