The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law is partnering with the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México on a first-of-its-kind certificate program teaching Mexican public law and policy in the United States.

The courses are open to attorneys, judges, scholars, business leaders, and anyone interested in Mexican public law and policy. Course topics will include Mexican constitutional law, human rights, electoral systems, distribution of power, public policy, economic and social regulations, and more. The courses will be available both on online and in-person on the UArizona campus.

The courses will be taught in Spanish by top scholars from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, or UNAM, and leading figures in the Mexican legal system, including Juan Luis González Alcántara, justice of the Supreme Court of Mexico, and José de Jesús Orozco Henríquez, commissioner of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

“We are in a critical moment in U.S.-Mexico relations right now, and we believe this certificate in Mexican public law and policy will equip people to appreciate the complexities and dynamics of the Mexican legal system," said Marc Miller, dean of the College of Law. "Participants will gain insights to better navigate issues with complex legal landscapes, from trade to immigration to public policy. This kind of training isn’t available anywhere else, and we’re thrilled to be joining with Mexico’s most elite university to make this program available.”

The certificate program begins in January 2020 and consists of four 7.5-week courses—two offered in the spring and two in the fall. Intermediate Spanish fluency is necessary, though each course will have a bilingual teaching assistant, and all faculty members are bilingual. A legal background is not required.

Participants may enroll in any number of the four courses, and those who complete all four will receive a diplomado (certificate) from the UNAM. Current UArizona students who attend the courses in person will also receive UArizona academic credit for each course.

Learn more about the certificate program in Mexican public law and policy, including course dates and application details, at: law.arizona.edu/mexlaw.

A version of this story originally appeared on the James E. Rogers College of Law website: https://law.arizona.edu/news/2019/12/arizona-law-partners-with-unam-certificate-mexican-law-policy