Comparing Our Criminal Justice System to Mexico's

Last week, I had the opportunity to help provide training to Mexican criminal justice professionals. The training included Mexican police, prosecutors, and forensic experts from multiple jurisdictions. I learned a great deal, and thought I would share my impressions briefly for those who are interested. The former Mexican system. Mexico’s criminal justice system used to be very different from ours. The old system has frequently been described as a “mixed inquisitorial” system, situated generally in the European civil law tradition, yet with many distinctive features. Police were mainly dedicated to crime prevention, like security guards, not to investigation. Prosecutors directed investigations and questioned witnesses. Prosecutors also filed and prosecuted cases. Cases were decided by judges based primarily on written affidavits. Oral testimony subject to cross-examination was rare. Defendants were routinely incarcerated pretrial, and the presumption of innocence and the right to counsel were both weak. The current Mexican system. In 2008, Mexico undertook a major reform of its criminal justice system. The reform was mostly complete by 2016. The current system is an adversarial system, similar to ours, with oral trials featuring live witness testimony and cross-examination. Pretrial release is more common and the presumption of innocence has been strengthened. Police have been given an expanded role, with more investigative duties. Prosecutors are correspondingly more focused on advocacy. This article by Professor David Shirk provides a detailed overview of the reform. A shorter summary by The Economist is here. This article argues that the reforms have been effective but are in [...]