Dr Jorge Muñiz Ziches - Founder of Muñiz-RamirezPerez-Taiman & Luna Victoria

Jorge Muñiz Founder of MRPL Attorneys at Law

Press Tribune: How would you assess the legal system of Peru?

Dr. Muñiz: The legal system of Peru is one of the most modern and advanced ones in Latin America. It has an updated legislation in main subjects like, for example, promotion of foreign investment, modern contractual system, adapted treatment for the infrastructure concessions and public services, modern frame to the market of values and capitals, very modern mercantile legislation and a regime of electronic commerce and pioneering digital signature legislation in Latin America. All this legislation took place in Peru approximately 15 years ago, and nowadays it serves as suitable legal frame for the productive and commercial activities. This legislative work began in 1990, when the economic changes in Peru occurred and as a result of it, Peru received an incredible flow of national and foreign investment. The Political Constitution of 1993 shaped those principles and rights for the investors, granting them legal security they lacked before. For example, the right to the exchange market for the remittance of capitals and utilities without restrictions limits, a clear system on expropriations, observance for the contractual freedom and thus other fundamental subjects for the investors. It was vital to create the necessary climate to attract capitals, because obviously before 1990 nobody invested in Peru. At an international level, Peru designed alternative mechanisms for conflict resolution. For example, Peru adhered to the CIADI (or ICSID) a World Bank organism that works as an arbitration center, solves conflicts between the investors and the receiving country. Also we adhered to the MIGA, also an independent World Bank organism, with the purpose of granting the investors who invested in Peru a civil insurance against terrorism acts, expropriations or commotions. These mechanisms of promotion to the investment occurred when I presided over the National Commission for Investment and Foreign Technologies where we designed this entire regulatory frame. Later in the year 1992 the National Institute of Defense for Free Competition and Intellectual Property (INDECOPI), acted as a regulating organism for free competition and the competitive relations between private companies to avoid dominant positions in the market, subsidized imports or dumping, consumer protection, working with companies that filed for bankrupt and all the regime of protection to the intellectual property, mainly in the field of the patents. If we added the regime of promotion to investments and the legislation on competition, we can be pretty sure that Peru enjoys a very promotional legal frame to investments today.

Press tribune: How fast is the judicial system in Peru?

Dr. Muñiz: A serious problem in Peru was the amount of trials and the little capacity of judges to solve them, because not enough attention was placed on their wages or because they didn't have the capacity for solving such a large amount of processes. Peru has always been a litigant country; here everything was solved by trial. Considering that the processes can last in average up to 5 years and that slowness generally ends up discrediting the magistrates and lawyers, when I had the honor of being member of the congress we thought about a solution to that problem. At that time we established the necessity to create an effective system of alternative justice. Because of that some laws were enacted in the National Parliament to assure a greater
effectiveness in the Judicial Power, also the Law of prejudicial obligatory Conciliation for Arbitration in charge of private organizations was enacted. About Arbitration we can say that it is a success and on the Obligatory Conciliation. Conciliation centers were created in universities and other institutions of prestige to help the litigants solve their differences with no need to resort to the judicial routes. The result is that the volume of judicial processes has been reduced in almost 30%, thanks to these two alternative mechanisms and the judges have more time to solve the cases that deserve to be solved by the Judicial Power.

Press tribune: The TLC with the United States is on the verge of being ratified, are you planning on positioning yourselves as a competitor for American Law firms at an international level?

Dr. Muñiz: We cannot compete with American law firms at an international level yet, but rather we think about alliances that would help us penetrate new markets outside Peru. It is evident that with a FTA between Peru and the United States of America a very important flow of trade will occur both ways. With that perspective we have established in the city of Houston a Branch of our law firm because it represents a very interesting zone for the flow of investments in the energy fields, petroleum, mining and agriculture.

Press tribune: The ratification of the FTA has been delayed for some issues regarding the labor laws in Peru. Is this delay justified?

Dr. Muñiz: I consider that, as an International Treaty, both parts have their own internal problematic. Peru surpassed them because the political class realized that this is going to be a great stimulation for Peru in the matter of economic development. In the United States, as it is natural, there are subjects for discussion between Democrats and Republicans on the labor treatment and the regime of pharmaceutical patents in this country. As an international treaty it also has internal implications, it is obvious that the Democrats demand special considerations to the Republicans who are in the power. In the end, I understood that they have already solved those differences.

Press tribune: Since 2004, the Camisea Project has boosted the energy sector, how does your firm take part in this mega project?

Dr. Muñiz: Camisea is perhaps the second most important project in Latin American in the energy sector. Camisea is already a reality in Peru, which implies the operation and distribution of the gas reserves located in the Andean zone of Peru and distributing it all over Peru, but beginning in the most populated zones, starting in Lima in the Coast of Peru. This is the biggest concession in Peru and several private companies take part in its development. The gas sales in Peru and the outside constitute a very valuable commodity for Peru, which assures better income and jobs. In that energetic development we have been and currently are lawyers of the project, which has taken to us, for example, to negotiate with all the landowners throughout the extension of the gas pipelines which crosses almost half of the country.

Press tribune: What are the factors that make your firm the leader in your sector?

Dr. Muñiz: We are a firm formed by top-level professionals. Our success comes from having the most talented and better-paid professionals in the country. Another important factor of this leadership is the decentralization of our legal services. We opened offices in very important cities of Peru and we also opened offices in Countries of the Andean Region like Ecuador. These factors of having the best professionals, the best team and understanding that nowadays our clients develop their activities at a multinational level have given us that privileged position. We are not only the biggest Law firm in Peru but also the tenth in all Latin America including Mexico, Brazil and Argentina.

Press tribune: How does this having an Attaché for every client work?

Dr. Muñiz: Our Firm at this time has 175 lawyers. To give our clients a personalized service a good organization handling, methods and systems are essential. The loyalty of the client depends on his satisfaction with the services that he receives, since the creation of the Firm in 1981 we assign every client a lawyer who visits them weekly and almost becomes an " inhouse lawyer ". It must give the client all kinds of support and understand the problems and culture of the client. This lawyer in our Firm is called "The attaché ".

Press tribune: Is there some other aspect of the study that you want to point out?

Dr. Muñiz: The Specialization. I would say that as in many places around the world, Peru has arrived in the legal subject to a point, in which the specialization is a key subject. The lawyers know that they must specialize. "The all around" lawyer no longer has a place. Our Firm is organized considering the productive sectors of the country: Miner, Fishing boat, Petroleum, Agroindustria, Bank, etc.

Press tribune: How is the APEC being carried out in Peru?

Dr.Muniz: Peru is a member of the APEC for quiet some years, since the Pacific Basin is its natural region. APEC has been for several years, almost since I started working as a lawyer - 30 years, a center of constant development. As a Law firm, we are part of a gremial organization that is called Pacific Rim Advisory (PRAC), which is referred to the Pacific Basin. I would say that for Peru, that is going to be hosting this important event next year, it is going to attract so many foreign industrialists, we see vital mechanisms for development, for exporting our traditional and nontraditional products. For that reason, our relation with China and Japan are fundamental. China it is becoming one of the main investors in Peru. The Chinese are buying mining, fishing, agricultural companies and continue investing in our Country. And that comes as no surprise: Peru is placed in a strategically important point geographically so its relation with China, Japan, Korea, and Thailand occurs by just crossing the Pacific Oceans.

Press tribune: What Chinese companies are you working with?

Dr. Muñiz: We work with several law firms in China. For example, a lawyer of our firm will begin very soon a training course in Beijing in the Firm Lehmann and Lee one of the most recognized and prestigious firms there. Our objective is that he perfects his Chinese language and gets to know this wonderful ancestral culture thoroughly.
As you can see, we are preparing ourselves for the big flow of investments; we even have a Chinese version on our website already.

Press tribune: "Peru is making progress, it is the right time for Peru", says President Alan García. Do you agree with that statement?

Dr. Muñiz: This is our opportunity and I agree with President García. Months ago I wrote an article for the Newspaper "El Comercio" where I said as a parable that "the planets had aligned in favor of Peru". For example, the prices of minerals and other commodities have never been so high. The signing of the FTA with the United States, the macroeconomic numbers of Peru: inflation 0, and devaluation 0. All these reasons make it is the time for Peru.