Time limits for filing amparo in criminal matters

In amparo proceedings, filing the claim out of time has a final consequence: the case is dismissed as inadmissible and the challenged act becomes final for constitutional purposes. In criminal matters, where liberty and assets are at stake, knowing the applicable time limit precisely leaves no room for approximations.

The general rule: fifteen days

Article 17 of the Amparo Law (Ley de Amparo) sets a fifteen-day time limit to file the claim. That limit governs most acts issued within criminal proceedings, unless the act falls under one of the exceptions listed in the same article.

The exceptions that matter in criminal cases

Section II of Article 17 provides that, when the claim challenges a final conviction in criminal proceedings that imposes a prison sentence, it may be filed within up to eight years. The exception is designed in favor of the person sentenced to prison; according to the text of the provision, it does not cover an acquittal that the victim wishes to challenge, nor a conviction that does not impose imprisonment, cases in which the general fifteen-day rule applies.

Section IV allows the claim to be filed at any time when the challenged act involves a risk of deprivation of life, attacks on personal liberty outside of proceedings, incommunicado detention, deportation or expulsion, banishment or exile, enforced disappearance, any of the acts prohibited by Article 22 of the Constitution, or forced conscription into the armed forces. The phrase “outside of proceedings” is decisive: the exception protects against arbitrary deprivations of liberty, not against every act that affects it.

Arrest warrants

The First Chamber of the Mexican Supreme Court (Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación) addressed this point when resolving contradicción de criterios 325/2022. In binding precedent 1a./J. 177/2023 (11a.), digital registry 2027783, published in the Gaceta del Semanario Judicial de la Federación, Eleventh Period, Book 32, December 2023, Volume II, page 2036, and binding as of December 11, 2023, it held that an arrest warrant is an act issued within proceedings, because it is issued during the initial investigation stage governed by Article 211 of the National Code of Criminal Procedure (Código Nacional de Procedimientos Penales), and therefore the time limit to challenge it is the general fifteen days, not “at any time.”

In practice, this requires acting quickly once the person learns of the warrant, and setting aside the still common belief that any act affecting liberty can be challenged at any moment.

When the time limit starts

Article 18 of the Amparo Law, as amended by the reform published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (Diario Oficial de la Federación) on March 13, 2025, provides that time limits run from the day after notice of the challenged act or ruling takes effect for the claimant under the law governing that act, or from the day after the claimant learned of the act or its execution, or stated that they were aware of it. In criminal matters, the law governing the act is usually the National Code of Criminal Procedure, so it determines when each notice takes effect.

Only business days count. Article 19 excludes Saturdays and Sundays; January 1; February 5; March 21; May 1 and 5; September 14 and 16; October 12; November 20 and December 25, as well as days on which the court hearing the case suspends its work or cannot operate due to force majeure.

A practical recommendation

When in doubt about the applicable time limit, the prudent course is to file within fifteen days. Waiting for a court to confirm that the act fell under an exception exposes the person to losing the opportunity to defend themselves, and in criminal matters that loss can rarely be remedied.

Sources: Articles 17, 18 and 19 of the Amparo Law (Ley de Amparo, Reglamentaria de los artículos 103 y 107 de la Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), last amended by reform published on October 16, 2025, and binding precedent 1a./J. 177/2023 (11a.), digital registry 2027783, of the Semanario Judicial de la Federación.

This note is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice for any specific case.

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