Private Criminal Complaint Mexico (Querella Penal)

A Private Criminal Complaint Mexico (Querella Penal) is a formal written declaration filed by a victim (víctima) or offended party (ofendido) before the Ministerio Público — either the Fiscalía General de la República (FGR) for federal crimes or a state attorney general's office (Fiscalía General del Estado) for state crimes — reporting the commission of a crime (delito) that by law requires a private complaint (querella) to initiate prosecution, rather than being prosecuted ex officio (de oficio) by the state.

The Código Nacional de Procedimientos Penales (CNPP, published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 5 March 2014 and applicable nationwide since 2016) Article 225 establishes the formal requirements for a querella — the written or verbal declaration that sets in motion the criminal investigation (investigación penal) for crimes that require this private complaint as a procedural condition (condición de procedibilidad). Without a querella from the victim for querellable offences, the Ministerio Público may not initiate criminal proceedings.

The distinction between crimes prosecuted de oficio and crimes requiring querella (delitos de querella or delitos perseguibles a petición de la parte ofendida) is fundamental in Mexican criminal procedure. Crimes prosecuted de oficio — such as homicide (homicidio), robbery with violence (robo con violencia), kidnapping (secuestro), and organised crime offences — are investigated and prosecuted by the Ministerio Público without requiring the victim's complaint. Crimes requiring querella include: fraud (fraude) under Articles 386 and 387 Código Penal Federal when committed between family members or in commercial relationships; breach of trust (abuso de confianza) under Article 382 CPF; property damage (daño en propiedad ajena) under Article 397 CPF in certain circumstances; defamation (difamación) and calumny (calumnia) under Articles 351 and 356 CPF; many workplace and commercial crimes; violations of intellectual property rights under the LFPPI; and computer crimes (delitos informáticos) under Articles 211 Bis 1 through 211 Bis 9 CPF.

The CNPP introduced the Sistema Acusatorio Adversarial — Mexico's accusatorial adversarial criminal justice system — which replaced the former inquisitorial system nationwide. Under this accusatorial system, the querella initiates the investigación inicial phase before the Ministerio Público, which may then decide to: continue with formal investigation (investigación formalizada) before an impartial Juez de Control (control judge); seek alternative dispute resolution (mecanismos alternativos de solución de controversias) such as mediation (mediación) or conciliation (conciliación) under Article 187 CNPP; apply a simplified procedure (procedimiento abreviado) for cases where the accused accepts responsibility; or archive the case (no ejercicio de la acción penal) if insufficient evidence exists.

The Ley General de Víctimas (LGV, DOF 9 January 2013) complements the CNPP by establishing victims' rights in criminal proceedings — including the right to legal advice (asesoría jurídica) from the Comisión Ejecutiva de Atención a Víctimas (CEAV), the right to truth (derecho a la verdad), the right to justice (derecho a la justicia), and the right to detailed reparation (derecho a la reparación completo del daño) including restitution, rehabilitation, compensation, satisfaction, and guarantees of non-repetition under Articles 26 through 64 LGV. The Comision Ejecutiva de Atencion a Victimas (CEAV), established under the Ley General de Victimas (LGV, DOF 9 January 2013), provides free legal advisors (asesores juridicos de victimas) to assist complainants in preparing and filing querella documents before the Ministerio Publico.

A Private Criminal Complaint (Querella Penal) in Mexico is required when a victim has suffered harm from a querellable offence — a crime that the law specifies may only be prosecuted upon the private complaint of the victim — and wishes to initiate criminal proceedings against the perpetrator before the Ministerio Publico under the Codigo Nacional de Procedimientos Penales (CNPP) Article 225.

A querella is needed when a person or business is the victim of fraud (fraude) under Articles 386 or 387 of the Codigo Penal Federal — including advance-fee fraud, investment fraud, real estate fraud involving false representations, consumer fraud, and fraud committed through false documents or misrepresentation of professional credentials.

The complaint is required when an employee or agent has committed breach of trust (abuso de confianza) under Article 382 CPF — misappropriating money, property, or documents entrusted to them in the course of their employment, such as an accountant misappropriating client funds, a property manager diverting rental income, or an employee stealing company assets.

A querella is needed when a person's computer systems, email accounts, social media profiles, or financial accounts have been accessed without authorisation — computer crimes (delitos informaticos) under Articles 211 Bis 1 through 211 Bis 9 of the Codigo Penal Federal require a querella when committed against private individuals or companies outside the critical infrastructure context.

The complaint is required for intellectual property crimes under the Ley Federal de Proteccion a la Propiedad Industrial (LFPPI) — counterfeiting of registered trademarks (marcas registradas), infringement of patents (patentes), and misappropriation of trade secrets (secretos industriales) that rise to the level of criminal conduct under LFPPI Articles 386 through 402 require a querella from the intellectual property rights holder to initiate criminal proceedings before the Fiscalia General de la Republica (FGR).

Under CNPP art. 225 and the applicable Codigo Penal, the querella must be filed within the prescription period (plazo de prescripcion) applicable to the specific offence — which varies from one to fifteen years depending on the severity of the crime and the prescribed penalty. Filing promptly after the discovery of the offence is essential to preserve evidence and prevent the prescription of the criminal action against the probable responsible party.

A valid Querella Penal under the Codigo Nacional de Procedimientos Penales (CNPP) Article 225 must contain the following essential elements to be accepted by the Ministerio Publico and to initiate criminal investigation before the Fiscalia General de la Republica (FGR) or the competent state Fiscalia General del Estado.

Identification of the Victim: Full legal name, CURP, RFC (if applicable), date of birth, official identity document number (credencial INE/IFE or passport), address, telephone number, and email address of the quejoso (complainant/victim). For corporate victims, the full legal name, RFC, Registro Publico de Comercio entry, and the name and authority of the legal representative (representante legal) filing on behalf of the company under a poder notarial.

Identification of the Alleged Perpetrator: Full name, address, and all identifying information known about the probable responsible party (probable responsable) — including employer, vehicle description, telephone number, email address, or any other data that will assist the Ministerio Publico in locating and identifying the suspect. If the perpetrator's identity is unknown, all available identifying information must be provided.

Narrative Description of the Facts: A chronological, detailed account (relacion de hechos) of the events constituting the alleged crime — including exact dates, times, places, amounts, and the specific acts or omissions of the perpetrator. The CNPP requires that the querella describe the facts in sufficient detail to allow the Ministerio Publico to identify the applicable criminal offence (tipo penal) under the Codigo Penal Federal or the applicable state Codigo Penal.

Legal Classification of the Offence: Identification of the specific crime (delito) committed, citing the applicable Codigo Penal provision (federal or state) — though the querellante is not required to correctly identify the legal classification; the Ministerio Publico independently determines the applicable offence under the CNPP's accusatorial adversarial system.

Evidence: All documentary and material evidence available — including contracts, invoices, account statements, electronic communications (emails, WhatsApp messages, text messages), bank transfer records, photographs, videos, and witness information (testigos). Physical evidence should be preserved and not tampered with before handing to the Ministerio Publico.

Amount of Harm Suffered: For crimes involving economic harm, the specific monetary amount (monto del dano economico) suffered by the victim — this establishes the scale of the offence and may affect the applicable penalty range under the Codigo Penal.

Request for Reparation: Under the Ley General de Victimas (LGV) Article 26 and CNPP Article 109, victims have the right to claim detailed reparation (reparacion completo del dano) — the querella should include a specific claim for restitution (restitucion), compensation (indemnizacion), and any other reparation measures applicable to the harm suffered under Articles 26 through 64 of the Ley General de Victimas.

Withdrawal of the Querella: Under CNPP Article 225, the victim may withdraw the querella (desistimiento de la querella) at any time before a final sentence — for querellable offences, withdrawal extinguishes criminal liability (extincion de la accion penal). The decision to withdraw should only be made after receiving full reparation of harm, documented in a written settlement agreement reviewed by a Licenciado en Derecho.

Forms-legal.com provides this Querella Penal Mexico template as a practical starting point. Criminal matters involve specific procedural requirements under the Sistema Acusatorio Adversarial established by the CNPP — victims are strongly encouraged to obtain legal representation from a Licenciado en Derecho (abogado penalista) or to contact the Comision Ejecutiva de Atencion a Victimas (CEAV) at www.gob.mx/ceav for free legal assistance before filing the querella.