University of Houston Law Center Logo
Give Now  
HOME Faculty

UNAM

Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, (UNAM): Mexico City, Mexico

Located in Coyoacan, one of the most beautiful and traditional neighborhoods of Mexico City, UNAM’s Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas produces high-level legal research aimed at solving current national and international problems. It is also home to one of the biggest law libraries in Latin America. The Institute has teaching agreements with various Universities within the country and most of the Professors actively participate in Research degrees offered in several other Universities in Mexico and abroad. Moreover, since the year 2000 the Institute has had its own PhD program. Dissemination of legal knowledge is a top priority. IIJ regularly organizes conferences, seminars and congresses that facilitate meeting Professors from other countries.

Academic visitors are welcome and cordially invited to take an active part in the academic life of the Institute. Having a visitor status provides an opportunity to attend regularly organized conferences and seminars and to share ideas with Mexican professors, PhD students, and undergraduate students that work as research assistants.

Specialties & Programs

Faculty: There are 90 full-time researchers. All of them hold a postgraduate degree and most of them belong to the National Researchers System SNI.

Research Areas: Our research policy is based on freedom of expression, discussion and analysis of ideas. Our Faculty is free to develop their own interests and is also encouraged to contribute jointly with other researchers in their common areas of study, particularly in the periodic publications of the Institute.

The academic work of the Institute is divided into nine research areas and an interdisciplinary nucleus. Moreover we are constantly creating new working groups that include people from other areas of expertise within UNAM and from other countries as well.

Up to the present day, the main research areas are:

  • Administrative Law
  • Environmental Law
  • Private and Commercial Law
  • Constitutional Law
  • Information Law
  • Tax Law
  • International Law
  • Criminal Law
  • Procedural Law
  • Welfare Law
  • Philosophy of Law and Jurisprudence
  • History of Law
  • Applied Research and Opinion
  • Nucleus for the study of Health and Law
  • Sociology of Law

The Library: The “Jorge Carpizo” library began its collection in 1940. Its resources have increased massively from then and they do so every day. We can confidently assure you that the Institute’s Library is amongst the most important Law Libraries in Latin America, due in part to the fact that many Law Professors from UNAM’s Law Faculty have donated their private collections to us. UNAM also has an online library that can give you an idea of the Institute’s publications: https://biblio.juridicas.unam.mx/bjv

Life in Coyoacan

Coyoacan, one of the most beautiful and traditional neighborhoods of Mexico City, is located in the Southern District of Mexico City and relatively close to the City Centre. Coyoacan’s cafés, galleries, and museums offer the perfect environment for leisure and studies. UNAM is the biggest university in Latin America. Its buildings, seated in what used to be a volcanic zone, are listed as part of Mexico’s City’s highlights and must-see attractions for visitors. The surroundings of campus are simply astonishing due to the variety of plants, flowers and cactus.