If the requester supplies the disc or USB drive, the municipality cannot charge
Right of access to information. Provisions charging for digitizing information onto magnetic devices supplied by the requester violate the principle of free access.
Official heading (Spanish): DERECHO DE ACCESO A LA INFORMACIÓN. LAS NORMAS QUE PREVÉN COBROS POR LA DIGITALIZACIÓN DE INFORMACIÓN EN DISPOSITIVOS MAGNÉTICOS APORTADOS POR EL SOLICITANTE, VIOLAN EL PRINCIPIO DE GRATUIDAD.
The ruling
The National Human Rights Commission challenged 2025 municipal revenue laws in Michoacán that charged for delivering digitized information on CD, DVD or magnetic devices, including per scanned page. The SCJN held that such charges, for information already held in municipal archives, violate the principle of free access that governs the right to information.
Our take
This is a concrete, easy-to-use rule: when the requester supplies the storage device, the authority incurs no material cost that could justify a fee. Charging per scanned page turns a transparency duty into a paid service. For legal and compliance teams gathering municipal records such as permits, licenses and inspection reports, this removes friction. Our caveat: the ruling covers information already in the archives; if the municipality must generate or process something new, the analysis may differ. We recommend citing the precedent in the request itself, not afterwards.
What to do
- Offer your own storage device when requesting municipal information and record it in the request.
- If payment per scanned page is demanded, challenge the charge on the basis of this precedent.
- Identify existing archived documents precisely to avoid additional charges.
Details
- Court
- SCJN Plenary
- Type
- Binding precedent (jurisprudencia)
- Identifier
- P./J. 84/2026 (12a.)
- Digital registry
- 2032160
- Published
- May 22, 2026
- Area
- Amparo and constitutional
- View official source ↗
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Prepared by Artegia for information only; not legal advice. Headings in English are unofficial translations. The official text is the one published in the Semanario Judicial de la Federación or the TFJA journal.