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Presumed Guilty?Revolutionizing the Criminal Justice System in

Mexico

March 19, 2012

Matthew C. Ingram

Visiting Fellow, Kellogg Institute (2011-2012)University of Notre Dame

mingram@nd.edu

Assistant Professor, Department of Political ScienceUniversity at Albany, SUNY

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Overview

I. Challenges to legal system1) internal: institutional capacity2) external: crime and insecurity

II. Criminal Procedure Reform of 2008III. Judicial Survey (Justiciabarómetro)IV. AttitudesV. Factors Helping and Hindering ReformVI. Pending Challenges

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Internal Challenges:Weak Institutional Capacity

• Weak law enforcement capacity and/or complicity with organized crime;

• Ineffective justice system (criminal impunity, weak prisons)

Crimes Sentenced

1.1 of crimes tried (91%)

Criminal Investigations4.6 of of 25 crimes investigated (18%)

Crimes Prosecuted 1.6 of 4.6 investigated (35%)

Crimes Brought to Trial1.2 of 1.6 prosecuted crimes (75%)

Known Crimes25 of 100 crimes are reported (25%)

All Crimes / Cifra negra

Source: Guillermo Zepeda Lecuona (2007). Numbers rounded to nearest tenth.

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Internal Challenges:Weak Institutional Capacity

• Law enforcement: ineffectiveness vs. corruption• no autonomous discretion to conduct investigations

separately from public prosecutors• Little to no training in crime scene protection and

evidence preservation (field evidence techniques)• Little to no training in effective interviewing,

informant development, intelligence• corruption

The Problem of Corruption

Cero NADA Uno Dos Tres Cuatro MUCHA

.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

9.1%15.9%

32.8%

22.6% 19.5%

Police Survey: On a scale of 1-4 indicate the level of corruption on the police force

2009 Justiciabarómetro: Guadalajara Municipal Police Survey

The Problem of Corruption

2009 Justiciabarómetro: Guadalajara Municipal Police Survey

Police Survey: At what level on the force is corruption the greatest?

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Internal Challenges:Weak Institutional Capacity

• Law enforcement: ineffectiveness vs. corruption• no autonomous discretion to conduct investigations

separately from public prosecutors• Little to no training in crime scene protection and evidence

preservation (field evidence techniques)• Little to no training in effective interviewing, informant

development, intelligence• corruption

o solutions thus far also ineffectiveo long line of police reforms restructuring federal agencies,

group patrols, relocation, further reduction of discretion• *** displacement of civil policing model by militarizing fight

against organized crime

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Internal Challenges:Weak Institutional Capacity

• Ineffective justice system• long delays or inaction, especially if poor• system generally seen as unresponsive or abusive/unfair• Examples from judicial process:

• accused generally held in custody, even pre-trial, in general population, and legal appearances are from behind bars

• prosecution works closely with judge• evidence considered in investigation and entered into file (“expediente”)

has probatory value• accused and defense attorney do not see all evidence or file until hearing• process is largely conducted in writing, adding documents and written

responses to file• judge at initial hearing is same judge at trial

• “Presumed guilty?”

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External Challenges: Crime and InsecurityDrug-related Killings

Total between Dec. 2006 and Dec. 2011: more than 50,000Source: Ríos, Viridiana, and David A. Shirk (2011), “Drug Violence in Mexico: Data and Analysis Through 2010”http://justiceinmexico.org/publications/justice-in-mexico-project

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External Challenges: Crime and Insecurity

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External Challenges: Crime and Insecurity

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External Challenges: Crime and InsecurityJournalists killed

Source: Molzahn, Cory, Viridiana Ríos, and David A. Shirk (2012), “Drug Violence in Mexico: Data and Analysis Through 2011”, http://justiceinmexico.org/publications/justice-in-mexico-project

Total of 111 incidents between 2000 and June 2011: 75 killed, 13 disappeared, and 23 violent attemptsSource: FEADLE (PGR)

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Overview

I. Challenges to legal system1) internal: institutional capacity2) external: crime and insecurity

II. Criminal Procedure Reform of 2008III. Judicial Survey (Justiciabarómetro)IV. AttitudesV. Factors Helping and Hindering ReformVI. Pending Challenges

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Criminal Procedure ReformTiming of Implementation (as of 3/2011)

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Overview

I. Challenges to legal system1) internal: institutional capacity2) external: crime and insecurity

II. Criminal Procedure Reform of 2008III. Judicial Survey (Justiciabarómetro)IV. AttitudesV. Factors Helping and Hindering ReformVI. Pending Challenges

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New Data:Justiciabarómetro Surveys

Surveys of criminal justice system professionals(1) 2009/2010: police in Guadalajara, Ciudad

Juarez(2) 2010: judges, prosecutors, and defense

attorneys in 9 states

Source: Ingram, Matthew C., Octavio Rodriguez Ferreira, and David A. Shirk (2011), “Justiciabarómetro: Survey of Judges, Prosecutors, and Public Defenders in Nine Mexican States.” Available at: http://justiceinmexico.org/publications/justice-in-mexico-project/

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Justiciabarómetrostates in 2010 survey of judges and lawyers

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Justiciabarómetro 2010Respondents by state and profession

State JudgeProsecut

orsPublic

Defenders TotalBaja California 12 6 36 54

Coahuila 17 0 15 32

Chihuahua 21 0 0 21

Jalisco 30 0 0 30

Michoacán 33 0 0 33

Nuevo León 20 12 8 40

Oaxaca 20 20 0 40

Yucatán 5 0 0 5

Zacatecas 13 0 0 13

Total 171 38 59 268

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JusticiabarómetroResponse Rates by State and Profession

State Prosecutor Public Defender Judge

R N % R N % R N %

Baja California

6 10 60 36 115

31.30

12 27 44.44

Coahuila 0 -- -- 15 46 32.61

17 25 68.00

Chihuahua 0 -- -- 0 [na]

[na] 21 86 24.42

Jalisco 0 -- -- 0 [na]

[na] 30 132 22.73

Michoacán 0 -- -- 0 -- -- 33 39 85.62

Nuevo León 12 76 15.79

8 116

6.90 20 54 37.04

Oaxaca 20 [na]

[na] 0 -- -- 20 61 32.79

Yucatán 0 -- -- 0 -- -- 5 12 41.67

Zacatecas 0 -- -- 0 -- -- 13 42 30.95

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Justiciabarómetro 2010

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Overview

I. Challenges to legal system1) internal: institutional capacity2) external: crime and insecurity

II. Criminal Procedure Reform of 2008III. Judicial Survey (Justiciabarómetro)IV. AttitudesV. Factors Helping and Hindering ReformVI. Pending Challenges

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Traditional system was “effective and efficient”

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Confidence in prior system(that own rights would be respected, guilty be caught)

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Like results of 2008 reform?

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Other countries with reform have shown it works

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Will new system reduce corruption?

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Will new system reduce criminality?

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Overview

I. Challenges to legal system1) internal: institutional capacity2) external: crime and insecurity

II. Criminal Procedure Reform of 2008III. Judicial Survey (Justiciabarómetro)IV. AttitudesV. Factors Helping and Hindering ReformVI. Pending Challenges

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Criminal Procedure ReformTiming of Implementation (as of 3/2011)

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Factors Helping and Hindering Reform

I. Helping– Implementation– Legal education– Leadership– Networking

II. Hindering– Older generation of judges and magistrados– Poor coordination across institutions– Sensational attention to “errors” of the system• Chihuahua; Durango

– Resources– Electoral politics

*** Time ***

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Pending Challenges1) Re-assert Civilian Policing Model• part of long-term security and development strategy

2) Police Autonomy and Discretion• long line of failed police reforms• difficult to do if capacity is low and corruption is high

3) Intelligence Capacity• at all levels• perhaps most importantly at local levels

4) Real Preventive Mindset• Consider: even if every part of the reform works well

today, what keeps more people – mostly young men – from joining crime organizations tomorrow?

• Whose responsibility?

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Thank you!