Lors de ces dernières décennies, la recherche de nouveaux instruments générant des recettes publiques est apparue comme un phénomène commun dans des Etats dont les conditions politiques, juridiques et économiques diffèrent pourtant sensiblement. De manière générale, les difficultés financières rencontrées par les États ont favorisé le développement de la parafiscalité mais aussi un certain essor de l’utilisation d’instruments d’obtention de recettes publiques liés au principe du bénéfice. Parmi ces instruments se trouvent les redevances, qui procurent un montant non négligeable de recettes publiques aux États à l’heure actuelle.A partir les années 80, les lois mexicaines présentent une définition de la redevance qui intègre dans son sein les redevances pour service rendu et les redevances domaniales, en leur attribuant un caractère fiscal. Après trois décennies, le régime juridique des redevances dans ce pays se caractérise par un manque considérable de lisibilité. Une technique normative déficiente et l’absence d’un effort de systématisation tant dans les lois qui les établissent que dans la jurisprudence rendent difficile de cerner les redevances comme un tout harmonieux et cohérent.Face à cette problématique, notre thèse a pour objectif de contribuer à l’étude de la redevance en droit mexicain. Dans une Première Partie, nous identifions les éléments qui suggèrent une affirmation progressive de la redevance en tant que catégorie de ressources publiques possédant une logique et un fonctionnement propres. Dans une Deuxième Partie, nous analysons les spécificités des deux grandes modalités de redevance. / Over the past decades, in a context of budgetary pressure, governments turned to fees imposed on those that receive a specific benefit. Since the collection of public service fees increased in the last years, they constitute an important source of revenue for governments. This phenomenon is widespread in many countries, regardless of their economic, political, or legal framework.In Mexico, user fees and fees for the special use or exploitation of the public domain, are levied by both federal and local governments. Nevertheless, since the 1980’s these fees are considered as mandatory levies in this country. Currently, federal and local laws need to be amended in order to establish clearly these fees. Indeed, since several fees exist in Mexican law, it is necessary to investigate if user fees and fees for the special use or exploitation of the public domain belong to the same category. Also, it is necessary to distinguish them from taxes. This thesis aims to contribute to the understanding of fees in Mexican law. First, it is analyzed the definition and legal nature of such fees as well as the constitutional principles that are applied. Second, it is provided an overview of the main characteristics of both user fees and fees for the special use or exploitation of the public domain at federal and local level.

“Contested legalities in colonial Mexico : Francisco Xavier Gamboa and the defense of Derecho Indiano” explores the legal culture of late colonial Mexico through the lens of Francisco Xavier Gamboa, the most celebrated Mexican jurist of his era. Born in Guadalajara in 1717, Gamboa practiced in the courtrooms of Mexico City, represented the merchants guild of Mexico in Madrid from 1755 to 1764, analyzed mining legislation in the 1761 Comentarios a las Ordenanzas de Minas, and served three decades as an Audiencia judge until 1794. His long career encompassed the most salient features of the legal culture of his time. The central argument of this dissertation is that the legality Gamboa embodied and defended, known to historians as Derecho Indiano, came under attack in the period of the so-called Bourbon Reforms during the reign of Charles III. Led by José de Gálvez, the visitor-general of New Spain in the 1760s and later the secretary of state for the Indies from 1776 to 1787, the crown sought to streamline the legal order in order to root out corruption, restrict local autonomy, and strengthen royal authority. Gamboa and many other experienced officials opposed this effort. They argued that the old legal order, which recognized local customs and guaranteed judicial autonomy, provided the flexibility needed to maintain the Spanish empire in America. This contest in legalities marked the emergence of a centralized state in Spanish America and the moment when the Spanish legal order began to lose its legitimacy in America. / text