Schedule a Meeting

Article 27 of the Mexican Political Constitution

Home / glossary / Article 27 of the Mexican Political Constitution

Article 27 of the Mexican Political Constitution

The ownership of the lands and waters within the limits of the national territory belongs originally to the Nation, which has had and has the right to transfer the domain of these lands and waters to private individuals, constituting private property.

Expropriations may only be made for reasons of public utility and by means of compensation.

The nation shall at all times have the right to impose on private property the modalities dictated by the public interest, as well as to regulate, for the benefit of society, the use of natural elements susceptible of appropriation, in order to make an equitable distribution of public wealth, take care of its conservation, achieve the balanced development of the country and the improvement of the living conditions of the rural and urban population. Consequently, the necessary measures shall be taken to organize human settlements and to establish adequate provisions, uses, reserves and destinations of land, water and forests, in order to carry out public works and to plan and regulate the foundation, conservation, improvement and growth of population centers; to preserve and restore the ecological balance; to divide up large estates; to provide, under the terms of the regulatory law, for the organization and collective exploitation of ejidos and communities; for the development of small rural property; for the promotion of agriculture, livestock, forestry and other economic activities in rural areas; and to prevent the destruction of natural elements and the damage that property may suffer to the detriment of society.

Amended paragraph DOF 06-02-1976, 10-08-1987, 06-01-1992

The Nation has direct control over all the natural resources of the continental shelf and the submarine sockets of the islands; over all minerals or substances which, in veins, mantles, masses or deposits, constitute deposits whose nature is different from the components of the land, such as minerals from which metals and metalloids used in industry are extracted; deposits of precious stones, rock salt and salt mines formed directly by marine waters; products derived from the decomposition of rocks, when their exploitation requires underground workings; mineral or organic deposits of materials capable of being used as fertilizers; solid mineral fuels; petroleum and all solid, liquid or gaseous hydrogen carbides; and the space situated on national territory, to the extent and under the terms established by international law.

Amended paragraph DOF 20-01-1960

The waters of the territorial seas are the property of the Nation to the extent and under the terms established by International Law; inland marine waters; those of lagoons and estuaries that communicate permanently or intermittently with the sea; those of naturally formed inland lakes that are directly linked to constant currents; those of rivers and their direct or indirect tributaries from the point where the first permanent or intermittent waters begin; those of naturally formed inland lakes which are directly linked to constant currents; those of rivers and their direct or indirect tributaries, from the point of the channel where the first permanent, intermittent or torrential waters begin, to their mouth in the sea, lakes, lagoons or estuaries of national property; Those of constant or intermittent streams and their direct or indirect tributaries, when the channel of the former in all or part of its extension, serves as a limit to the national territory or to two federative entities, or when it passes from one federative entity to another or crosses the dividing line of the Republic; that of lakes, lagoons or estuaries whose vessels, zones or banks are crossed by the dividing lines of two or more states or between the Republic and a neighboring country, or when the limit of the banks serves as a boundary between two states or between the Republic and a neighboring country; Those of springs gushing from beaches, maritime zones, riverbeds, watercourses or banks of lakes, lagoons or estuaries of national property, and those extracted from mines; and the riverbeds, beds or banks of lakes and inland streams to the extent provided for by law. Subsoil waters may be freely illuminated by means of artificial works and appropriated by the owner of the land, but when the public interest so requires or other uses are affected, the Federal Executive may regulate their extraction and utilization and may even establish closed areas, as for other waters of national property. Any other waters not included in the foregoing enumeration shall be considered an integral part of the property of the lands through which they flow or on which their deposits are located, but if they are located on two or more properties, the use of such waters shall be considered to be of public utility and shall be subject to the provisions to be issued by the federative entities.

Amended paragraph DOF 21-04-1945, 20-01-1960, 29-01-2016

In the cases referred to in the two preceding paragraphs, the domain of the Nation is inalienable and imprescriptible, and the exploitation, use or exploitation of the resources in question, by private individuals or by companies incorporated under Mexican law, may not be carried out except by means of concessions granted by the Federal Executive, in accordance with the rules and conditions established by law, except in radio broadcasting and telecommunications, which shall be granted by the Federal Telecommunications Institute. The legal rules relating to works or works for the exploitation of the minerals and substances referred to in the fourth paragraph will regulate the execution and verification of those that are carried out or must be carried out as from their validity, regardless of the date of granting of the concessions, and their non-observance will give rise to the cancellation of the concessions. The Federal Government has the power to establish national reserves and to suppress them. The corresponding declarations will be made by the Executive in the cases and under the conditions provided by law. In the case of radioactive minerals, no concessions will be granted. The planning and control of the national electric system, as well as the public service of transmission and distribution of electric energy corresponds exclusively to the Nation; in these activities no concessions will be granted, without prejudice that the State may enter into contracts with private parties under the terms established by the laws, which will determine the manner in which private parties may participate in the other activities of the electric industry.

Amended paragraph DOF 09-11-1940, 20-01-1960, 06-02-1975, 11-06-2013, 20-12-2013

In the case of oil and solid, liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons in the subsoil, the property of the Nation is inalienable and imprescriptible and no concessions will be granted. In order to obtain income for the State that will contribute to the long-term development of the Nation, it will carry out the activities of exploration and extraction of oil and other hydrocarbons through assignments to productive companies of the State or through contracts with them or with individuals, under the terms of the Regulatory Law. In order to comply with the purpose of such assignments or contracts, the State productive companies may contract with private parties. In any case, the hydrocarbons in the subsoil are property of the Nation and this must be stated in the assignments or contracts.

Paragraph added DOF 20-12-2013

The Nation is also responsible for the use of nuclear fuels for the generation of nuclear energy and the regulation of its applications for other purposes. The use of nuclear energy may only be for peaceful purposes.

Paragraph added DOF 29-12-1960. Erratum to paragraph DOF 07-01-1961. Amended DOF 06-02-1975

The Nation exercises in an exclusive economic zone located outside the territorial sea and adjacent to it, the rights of sovereignty and the jurisdictions determined by the laws of Congress. The exclusive economic zone shall extend two hundred nautical miles, measured from the baseline from which the territorial sea is measured. In those cases in which this extension produces overlapping with the exclusive economic zones of other States, the delimitation of the respective zones shall be made to the extent necessary, by agreement with these States.

Paragraph added DOF 06-02-1976

The capacity to acquire ownership of the lands and waters of the Nation shall be governed by the following prescriptions:

Reformed paragraph DOF 02-12-1948, 20-01-1960

  1. Only Mexicans by birth or naturalization and Mexican corporations have the right to acquire the ownership of lands, waters and their accessions or to obtain concessions for the exploitation of mines or waters. The State may grant the same right to foreigners, provided that they agree before the Secretariat of Relations to consider themselves as nationals with respect to such property and not to invoke for the same reason the protection of their governments with respect to the same; under penalty, in case of failure to comply with the agreement, of forfeiting to the benefit of the Nation the property acquired by virtue thereof. In a strip of one hundred kilometers along the frontiers and fifty kilometers along the beaches, foreigners may not, for any reason, acquire direct dominion over lands and waters.
    The State, in accordance with domestic public interests and the principles of reciprocity, may, at the discretion of the Secretariat of Relations, grant authorization to foreign States to acquire, in the permanent place of residence of the Federal Powers, private ownership of real property necessary for the direct service of their embassies or legations.

    Reformed fraction DOF 02-12-1948, 20-01-1960

  2. Religious associations that are constituted under the terms of Article 130 and its regulatory law shall have the capacity to acquire, possess or administer, exclusively, the property that is indispensable for their purpose, subject to the requirements and limitations established by the regulatory law;

    Reformed fraction DOF 28-01-1992

  3. Charitable institutions, public or private, whose purpose is to help the needy, scientific research, the dissemination of education, the mutual aid of members, or any other lawful purpose, may not acquire more real estate than is indispensable for their purpose, immediately or directly destined to it, subject to the provisions of the regulatory law;

    Reformed fraction DOF 28-01-1992

  4. Commercial joint-stock companies may own rural land, but only to the extent necessary for the fulfillment of their purpose.
    In no case may companies of this kind own land dedicated to agricultural, livestock or forestry activities to a greater extent than the respective equivalent of twenty-five times the limits indicated in section XV of this article. The regulatory law shall regulate the capital structure and the minimum number of partners in these companies, so that the land owned by the company does not exceed the limits of small ownership in relation to each partner. In this case, all individual share ownership, corresponding to rural land, will be cumulative for purposes of computation. The law shall also specify the conditions for foreign participation in such partnerships.
    The law itself shall establish the means of registration and control necessary for compliance with the provisions of this section;

    Reformed fraction DOF 06-01-1992

  5. Duly authorized banks, in accordance with the laws of credit institutions, may hold capital imposed on urban and rural property in accordance with the prescriptions of said laws, but may not own or administer more real estate than is entirely necessary for their direct purpose.
  6. The federal entities, as well as the municipalities throughout the Republic, shall have full capacity to acquire and own all real estate necessary for public services.

    Amended paragraph DOF 08-10-1974, 06-01-1992, 29-01-2016

    The laws of the Federation and of the federal entities in their respective jurisdictions shall determine the cases in which the occupation of private property is of public utility, and in accordance with said laws the administrative authority shall make the corresponding declaration. The price to be fixed as compensation for the expropriated thing shall be based on the amount that appears as its fiscal value in the cadastral or collection offices, whether this value has been declared by the owner or simply tacitly accepted by him because he has paid his taxes on this basis. The excess value or the depreciation of the private property due to improvements or deterioration occurring after the date of the assignment of the tax value shall be the only thing that shall be subject to expert judgment and judicial resolution. The same shall be observed in the case of objects whose value is not fixed in the rent offices.
    The exercise of the actions corresponding to the Nation, by virtue of the provisions of the present article, shall be made effective by judicial procedure; but within this procedure and by order of the corresponding courts, which shall be issued within a maximum period of one month, the administrative authorities shall immediately proceed to the occupation, administration, auction or sale of the lands or waters in question and all their appurtenances, without in any case being able to revoke what has been done by the same authorities before an enforceable judgment is rendered.

  7. The legal personality of the ejido and communal population nuclei is recognized and their ownership of land is protected, both for human settlement and for productive activities.The law shall protect the integrity of the lands of indigenous groups.The law, considering the respect and strengthening of the communal life of the ejidos and communities, shall protect the land for human settlement and shall regulate the use of land, forests and waters of common use and the provision of the necessary development actions to raise the standard of living of its inhabitants.The law, with respect for the will of the ejidatarios and communal owners to adopt the conditions that best suit them in the use of their productive resources, will regulate the exercise of the rights of the communal owners over the land and of each ejidatario over his plot. It shall also establish the procedures by which ejidatarios and comuneros may associate among themselves, with the State or with third parties and grant the use of their lands; and, in the case of ejidatarios, transfer their land rights among the members of the population nucleus; it shall also establish the requirements and procedures according to which the ejidal assembly shall grant the ejidatario dominion over his or her plot. In the case of alienation of plots, the right of preference provided for by law shall be respected.Within the same population nucleus, no ejidatario may own more land than the equivalent of 5% of the total ejido lands. In any case, the ownership of land in favour of a single ejidatario must comply with the limits indicated in section XV.The general assembly is the supreme body of the ejidal or communal population nucleus, with the organization and functions established by law. The ejidal or communal property commissariat, democratically elected under the terms of the law, is the representative body of the nucleus and is responsible for executing the resolutions of the assembly.The restitution of lands, forests and waters to the population centers will be made under the terms of the regulatory law;
  8. They are declared null and void:
    1. All alienations of lands, waters and mountains belonging to the towns, rancherías, congregations or communities, made by the political chiefs, State Governors, or any other local authority in contravention of the provisions of the Law of June 25, 1856 and other related laws and provisions;
    2. All concessions: compositions or sales of lands, waters and mountains, made by the Secretaries of Development, Treasury or any other federal authority, from December 1, 1876, to date, with which the ejidos, common lands or any other type of land belonging to towns, rancherías, congregations or communities, and population centers have been illegally invaded and occupied.
    3. All the procedures of survey or demarcation, transactions, alienations or auctions carried out during the period of time referred to in the preceding section, by companies, judges or other authorities of the States or of the Federation, with which lands, waters and mountains of the ejidos, lands of common distribution, or of any other kind, belonging to population centers, have been illegally invaded or occupied.Excepted from the above nullity are only those lands that have been titled in the repartimientos made in accordance with the Law of June 25, 1856, and owned in their own name for more than ten years when their area does not exceed fifty hectares.
  9. The division or distribution that has been made with the appearance of legitimacy among the neighbors of a population center and in which there has been error or defect, may be nullified when requested by three-fourths of the neighbors who are in possession of one-fourth of the land, subject of the division, or one-fourth of the same neighbors when they are in possession of three-fourths of the land.

  10. [Erratum to section DOF 03-03-1934. Amended DOF 12-02-1947. Repealed DOF 06-01-1992]

  11. [Section amended DOF 08-10-1974. Repealed DOF 06-01-1992]

  12. [Section amended DOF 08-10-1974. Repealed DOF 06-01-1992]

  13. [Section repealed DOF 06-01-1992]

  14. [Section amended DOF 12-02-1947. Repealed DOF 06-01-1992]

  15. In the United Mexican States large estates are prohibited.
    A small agricultural property is considered to be that which does not exceed, per individual, one hundred hectares of irrigated or prime moisture or its equivalent in other classes of land.For the purposes of equivalence, one hectare of irrigated land will be counted for two hectares of rainfed land, for four hectares of good quality pasture land and for eight hectares of forest, woodland or pasture land in arid lands.It will also be considered as small property, the area that does not exceed per individual of one hundred and fifty hectares when the land is devoted to the cultivation of cotton, if they receive irrigation, and three hundred, when they are intended for the cultivation of bananas, sugar cane, coffee, sisal, rubber, palm, vine, olive, quina, vanilla, cocoa, agave, cactus or fruit trees.A small livestock property shall be considered to be that which does not exceed per individual the area necessary to maintain up to five hundred head of large livestock or their equivalent in small livestock, under the terms established by law, in accordance with the forage capacity of the land.When, as a result of irrigation, drainage or any other works carried out by the owners or possessors of a small property, the quality of their land has been improved, it shall continue to be considered a small property, even when, by virtue of the improvement obtained, the maximums specified in this section are exceeded, provided that the requirements laid down by law are met.When, within a small livestock property, improvements are made to its lands and these are used for agricultural purposes, the area used for this purpose may not exceed, as the case may be, the limits referred to in the second and third paragraphs of this section that correspond to the quality that such lands would have had before the improvement;

    Reformed fraction DOF 12-02-1947, 06-01-1992

  16. [Section repealed DOF 06-01-1992]

  17. The Congress of the Union and the legislatures of the states, in their respective jurisdictions, shall issue laws that establish the procedures for the division and alienation of the extensions that exceed the limits indicated in sections IV and XV of this article.The surplus must be divided up and disposed of by the owner within a period of one year from the date of the corresponding notification. If the surplus has not been disposed of after this period has elapsed, the sale shall be made by means of a public auction. All other things being equal, the right of first refusal provided for in the regulatory law shall be respected.Local laws shall organize the family patrimony, determining the property that is to constitute it, on the basis that it shall be inalienable and shall not be subject to any attachment or encumbrance;

    Reformed fraction DOF 08-10-1974, 06-01-1992

  18. All contracts and concessions made by previous Governments since the year 1876, which have resulted in the monopolization of lands, waters and natural wealth of the Nation by a single person or corporation, are declared reviewable, and the Executive of the Union is empowered to declare them null and void when they imply serious harm to the public interest.
  19. Based on this Constitution, the State shall provide measures for the expeditious and honest administration of agrarian justice, with the aim of guaranteeing legal security in the tenure of ejido, communal and smallholding land, and shall support the legal advice of peasants.All questions relating to the boundaries of ejido and communal lands, whatever their origin, which are pending or arise between two or more population centres, as well as those relating to the land tenure of ejidos and communities, are within federal jurisdiction. For these purposes and, in general, for the administration of agrarian justice, the law shall establish courts endowed with autonomy and full jurisdiction, composed of magistrates proposed by the Federal Executive and appointed by the Chamber of Senators or, during its recess, by the Permanent Commission.

    Paragraph added DOF 06-01-1992

    The law shall establish a body for the administration of agrarian justice; and

    Paragraph added DOF 06-01-1992 | Fraction added DOF 03-02-1983

  20. The State shall promote the conditions for integral rural development, with the purpose of generating employment and guaranteeing the well-being of the peasant population and their participation and incorporation in national development, and shall promote agricultural and forestry activity for the optimal use of the land, with infrastructure works, inputs, credits, training services and technical assistance. It shall also issue regulatory legislation to plan and organize agricultural production, industrialization and marketing, considering them to be in the public interest.The integral and sustainable rural development referred to in the previous paragraph will also have among its purposes that the State guarantees the sufficient and timely supply of basic foodstuffs established by law.

    Paragraph added DOF 13-10-2011 | Fraction added DOF 03-02-1983 | Article amended DOF 10-01-1934