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 Editorials | Issues | December 2007 
Mexican Judicial Reforms Draw Praise for Oral Trials, Criticism for New Police Powers
 Associated Press
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 |  | For the first time in history, the presumption of innocence will be guaranteed in Mexico's constitution. |  | |
Mexico City - Mexico is steps away from the most significant overhaul of its justice system in 100 years — constitutional changes that will increase accountability and guarantee the presumption of innocence, but also enable police to enter homes and search private records without warrants.
The measure is evoking both praise and alarm among legal experts and human rights activists.
For years, the activists have clamored for profound reforms in a system widely considered outdated, dysfunctional and unfair. But new police powers mostly aimed at drug traffickers and organized crime have raised comparisons to the Patriot Act, which gave the U.S. government broad leeway to pursue terrorists at the expense of constitutional protections.
Mexico's lower house of Congress passed the measure by a broad margin Wednesday night, and Senate approval was expected late Thursday, before their long holiday recess. The constitutional changes also must be approved by 16 of Mexico's 31 states before President Felipe Calderon can sign it into law.
Calderon's predecessor, Vicente Fox, failed to get his own judicial reform through an adversarial Congress three years ago. This time, consensus replaced conflict as lawmakers and civilian activist groups took the lead in constructing a law that also incorporates the more controversial provisions proposed by Calderon.
The result: For the first time in history, the presumption of innocence will be guaranteed in Mexico's constitution. The changes don't include trial by jury, but oral public trials, already in place in some states, will go nationwide, replacing corruption-tainted, closed-door proceedings where judges depend mostly on written evidence and defendants can't confront their accusers.
But, in a concession to Calderon, the changes also give police officers broad discretion to enter private homes without a warrant; enable investigators to review private records without a judge's order; and let information from recorded phone calls be used as evidence in criminal cases if at least one of the conversation's participants agrees.
Those provisions have caused deep concern among civil rights advocates.
"The problem is that they are trying to reconcile a reform toward a more democratic justice system with regressive, authoritative measures," Santiago Aguirre, a lawyer for the Mexico City-based human rights organization Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez, told The Associated Press.
Proponents argue that the new police powers will be allowed in very limited cases: Police may enter a home without a warrant only if they are chasing a suspect in the act of committing a crime or if they believe someone inside the home is in danger. The attorney general's office may peer into citizens' private records only if it is pursuing suspected members of organized crime, and must receive court permission if the search pertains to financial records.
"We do not want anyone to violate rights by abusing these powers," said Rep. Cesar Camacho, chairman of the lower house's Justice Commission.
Even with the provisions setting off alarm bells, "80 percent of the reform is very positive," said Carlos Rios Espinosa, a law professor at Mexico's Center for Economic Research and Instruction. He called on Congress to approve the overall changes and then make any necessary amendments later.
"It was very difficult for all of these different political actors to come to an agreement on this," he said, "and if they don't approve it now, I don't think they'll ever do it — at least not during this administration." |
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