Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA): by Gina Hinojosa and Maureen Meyer
Nov. 15, 2019
...More than eleven years and two presidential terms have passed since Mexico approved sweeping constitutional reforms mandating the nationwide adoption of an adversarial criminal justice system, a tool meant to strengthen Mexico’s capacity to counter violence and impunity. A shift away from the country’s previous inquisitorial system—in which court procedures were largely oriented around written documents presented to a judge— the new system is based on oral trials in public courtrooms. The transition to oral trials has aimed to address the inefficiency, opacity, and lack of due process guarantees that characterized the old system.
In this report, the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) examines Mexico’s progress in implementing the adversarial system, as well as the degree to which this transition has helped make Mexico’s justice institutions more transparent, efficient, fair, and rights-respecting. Read full report.
Nov. 15, 2019
...More than eleven years and two presidential terms have passed since Mexico approved sweeping constitutional reforms mandating the nationwide adoption of an adversarial criminal justice system, a tool meant to strengthen Mexico’s capacity to counter violence and impunity. A shift away from the country’s previous inquisitorial system—in which court procedures were largely oriented around written documents presented to a judge— the new system is based on oral trials in public courtrooms. The transition to oral trials has aimed to address the inefficiency, opacity, and lack of due process guarantees that characterized the old system.
MV Note: Mexico Voices does not usually reprint English-language documents regarding Mexico. However, this report by the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) is an excellent review and assessment of how well--or not--the criminal justice reform passed in 2008 and supposed to be completed by 2016 has actually been implemented. As it points out in detail, much is still lacking in police, prosecutor and judges training, as well as the elimination of torture and other egregious practices.We recommend reading the full, clearly written, well-organized sixteen-page reportWhen Mexico’s Congress passed the 2008 reforms, it established an eight-year timeframe to complete this comprehensive overhaul. However, more than three years after the June 2016 deadline, the transition is far from complete.
In this report, the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) examines Mexico’s progress in implementing the adversarial system, as well as the degree to which this transition has helped make Mexico’s justice institutions more transparent, efficient, fair, and rights-respecting. Read full report.