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Research Areas
The TBI Justice in Mexico Project coordinates and disseminates research on three major components of the rule of law:
1. ORDER. The regulation of individual behavior within society under the law,
2. ACCOUNTABILITY. The accountability of the state and its representatives under the law, and
3. ACCESS. Equal access to justice through the law.
The first component refers to the maintenance of “order,” in terms of the provision of security, the regulation of social conduct, and the resolution of grievances according to a previously devised legal code. Order maintenance implies the existence of effective mechanisms for addressing deviant behavior from established law. “Accountability,” the second component, refers a State that is itself committed to be responsive to their citizens, to protect their individual rights and to abide the established legal order. Accountability is critical to contemporary notions of the rule of law in which groups and individuals in society must be protected from arbitrary or improper conduct by the State and its representatives. Finally, the notion of “access to justice” requires that the enforcement of the law be efficient and predictable, that people have equal access to justice and equal treatment before the law. This component of the rule of law is based on the relatively modern and inherently normative understanding that the law must be effective, swift, and just.**
For more information about the Justice in Mexico Project and these activities, contact
Robert Donnelly.
justiceinmexico@sandiego.edu
Tel: (619) 260-4148
Fax: (619) 260-4161
Or visit our contact us page
**See Rios, Alejandra and David Shirk. 2006. “Introduction” Wayne Cornelius and David Shirk (eds.) Reforming the Administration of Justice in Mexico. Forthcoming
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