Between Transaction and Withdrawal: Another Form to Finish Court Proceedings about Land Ownership in Nuevo León, Mexico, 19th and 20th Centuries

There is no doubt about the potential of judicial proceedings not only as a source of law but also as a historical source. Latin American legal historiography has shown a strong interest in analyzing and studying legal controversy about land ownership during the last decades of the XIX century and the beginning of the XX century. Generally, a judicial controversy ends with a verdict denying or recognizing the party's claims. However, legal doctrine recognizes the expression "modo anormal de terminación del proceso" as a term that includes different and unexpected ways to finish a judicial process, such as a transaction or withdrawal. Analyzing judicial files that end in unexpected ways is an approach that allows the identification of arguments and reasons, legal or not, that the parties considered in order to finish the process. This proposal pretends to analyze the effectiveness of local costumes