Mexico's new justice

The Mexican Congress has approved an overhaul of the country's judicial system, which is so rife with corruption, caprice and ineptitude that many doubted such a day would ever come. The reforms require a constitutional amendment to take effect, meaning they must be ratified by 17 of Mexico's 31 states. If the overwhelming support of legislators is an indicator, they should pass with ease.

Under the current system, based on Roman and Napoleonic codes, lawyers submit their cases in writing, and judges come to their decisions in secret. Under the new system, defendants would be granted the presumption of innocence, trials would be open to the public and lawyers would present oral arguments, among other welcome changes. Another provision, however, would permit organized crime suspects to be held for up to 80 days without being charged. This is particularly worrisome because Mexico's definition of organized crime is an illegal undertaking by three or more people. And trials for such suspects would still be conducted in secret. The potential for abuses and for a two-tiered justice system to emerge is enormous.

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Importance: This is a major change in the judicial system in Mexico. The proposition would move Mexico away from the Napoleonic code and towards a system much like the U.S. Defendants would be innocent until proven guilty and trials would be completely open to the public. However, it would be possible for someone to be detained for 80 days without charge. The amendment is most likely going to happen. The senate has already approved.

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New Justice System

Mexican legislators are expected today to overhaul the country's famously ineffective justice system, implementing public trials nationwide while turning up the heat on organized crime.

The long-awaited "justice reform" bill — the result of several years of fierce debate among security experts, academics and human rights activists — would amend the constitution to include the presumption of innocence and other guarantees. It would also provide alternatives to jail for minor crimes, in an attempt to reduce overcrowding in Mexican prisons.

Many of the new rights, however, would not apply to suspected members of the criminal mafias, who could be held for up to 40 days without charges. The bill would also insert in the constitution a liberal definition of "organized crime" as "a group of three or more people formed with the intention of repeatedly breaking the law."

The bill's supporters say such tough measures are needed to combat the narcotics gangs, whose bloody feuds killed more than 2,000 people last year, including dozens of police and soldiers.

"In this moment when organized crime is tearing Mexico apart, we can't protect the criminals," said Juan Francisco Rivera, a legislator from northern Nuevo Leon state, one of the cartels' bloodiest battlegrounds. "We have to give the police and security agents tools so they can take immediate action."

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Importance: So Mexico is changing their justice system to one similar to the U.S. which will operate under innocent until proven guilty, as opposed to its current system which runs more as guilty until proven innocent. The question is whether the proposed reform will help cut down on organized crime, as many hope it will, or push Mexico closer to becoming a police state with the amount of leeway it is giving police and military in times of "imminent danger."

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Judicial Reform and more Drug Violence

OVER the past few weeks, gunfights between police and drug gangs along Mexico's border with the United States have left dozens dead. At the same time, two assassination attempts against a senior official in the public prosecutor's office have been foiled—the latest on January 17th when three men with grenade launchers and assault rifles were arrested.

On taking over as Mexico's president a year ago, Felipe Calderón decided to deploy the army to combat Mexico's escalating drug violence. Originally sent in as a temporary measure, the troops are still there. Faced with a relentless drugs war, Mr Calderón is now seeking to overhaul the justice system, too. The measures are ambitious; whether they will actually work is a different matter.

The very size of recent drug seizures might be seen as a sign of failure, underlining the magnitude of the trafficking. In October officials seized 23.5 tonnes of cocaine, the largest seizure ever reported in Mexico, though only a tiny fraction of the estimated 530-710 tonnes that cross into the United States every year, according to a recent report commissioned by an American senator, Richard Lugar. Mexican gangs already control America's lucrative methamphetamine trade. They have also been expanding their custom in heroin. In 2006 Mexican heroin production leapt by 58%.

Sometimes an apparent victory can actually make matters worse—at least in the short term. Last month Mexican troops arrested Alfredo Beltrán, a big shot in the Sinaloa cartel, one of Mexico's biggest drug gangs. But this may create a power vacuum leading to even more violence. Osiel Cardenas, head of the Gulf cartel, another powerful gang, has been in jail in Houston, Texas, for a year, with little discernible effect on the flow of drugs.

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Importance: Drug problems continue to escalate in Mexico. President Calderon has delineated judicial reforms that will change the current Napoleanic system to an Anglo-American system, but many are skeptical whether this change will help correct the problem of corruption and drug violence. The recession pending in America is not going to help matters, giving the drug trade more impetus as the Mexican economy declines.

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