Reforming the Administration of Justice in Mexico

by Cornelius, Wayne A.; Shirk, David A.

• ISBN13: 9780268022921
• ISBN10: 0268022925
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-01-15
• Publisher: INGRAM

Summary

This landmark study examines the challenges Mexico faces in reforming the administration of its justice system--a critical undertaking for the consolidation of democracy, the well-being of Mexican citizens, and U.S.-Mexican relations. The result of over four years of research from the Project on Reforming the Administration of Justice in Mexico, this bi-national collaborative initiative brought together U.S. and Mexican scholars, policy makers, law enforcement officials, lawyers, activists, and other experts to analyze diverse topics in the administration of justice. The outcome of the study presents for the first time an up-to-date analysis of the functioning and imperfections of the Mexican justice system. The contributors cover five key themes in Mexican justice reform: crime and criminology, policing and police reform, legal actors and judicial reform, civic mobilization and oversight in the justice system, and practical policy recommendations for future improvement of the justice system. In addition, they present new sources of empirical data, useful case studies evaluating state and local level challenges, and analyses of best practices. Reforming the Administration of Justice in Mexico provides an essential resource for scholars, legal practitioners, policy makers, students, and members of the general public trying to understand challenges facing Mexico's justice system today and for the foreseeable future. The book will be useful and accessible for courses on Latin American Politics, U.S.-Mexican relations, and transnational crime and security.

Table of Contents

Introduction : reforming the administration of justice in Mexico	p. 1
The social construction of crime in Mexico	p. 51
A historical perspective on crime in twentieth-century Mexico City	p. 65
The Mexican prison system	p. 91
A profile of police forces in Mexico	p. 117
Criminal investigation and the subversion of the principles of the justice system in Mexico	p. 133
The militarization of the procuraduria general de la Republica : risks for Mexican democracy	p. 153
Police abuse in Mexico City	p. 175
The Mexican judicial system : continuity and change in a period of democratic consolidation	p. 197
Justice reform and legal opinion : the Mexican criminal codes of 1871, 1929, and 1931	p. 225
The role of lawyers in the Mexican justice system	p. 251
Lobbying for judicial reform : the role of the Mexican Supreme Court in institutional selection	p. 273
Citizen access and professional responsibility in the Mexican justice system	p. 299
Unweaving the social fabric : the impact of crime on social capital	p. 323
Binational civic action for accountability : antiviolence organizing in Cd. Juarez-El Paso	p. 349
Different but equal : access to justice for Mexico's indigenous peoples	p. 369
Exploring roads to police reform : six recommendations	p. 393
Evaluating the zero tolerance strategy and its application in Mexico City	p. 415
Assessing decentralization : what role for municipal government in the administration of justice?	p. 439
Public security, criminal justice, and human rights : a critique of PAN governance in Jalisco, 1995-2006	p. 463
Reforming the administration of justice in Mexico : strategies and requisites	p. 489
Candidates' justice-related platforms	p. 505
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