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Evaluating Accountability and Transparency in Mexico
National, Local, and Comparative Perspectives

by Editors Alejandra Rios Cazares and David A. Shirk

This monograph includes works covering a wide range of topics relating to Mexico's justice system: effective enforcement of the law, government adherence to the law, and access to justice through law. Government accountability and transparency is the paramount theme in all these papers.

The contributing authors have addressed justice-reform issues such as political corruption, criminal impunity, and inefficient enforcement of the law that routinely challenge Mexican citizens on a daily basis. They have also attempted to promote the aims of greater accountability and transparency in Mexico.

This monograph is the first of three to be published by the Trans-Border Institute (TBI) of the University of San Diego. In 2005, it became the coordination institution for a multiyear "Justice in Mexico" project that is focused on the administration of justice and the rule of law in Mexico.

The project issued a call for papers to both American and Mexican scholars working on a range of topics related to justice-sector reform. The threefold rationale for the project is: (1) the need to decentralize analysis and reform efforts in Mexico; (2) the need for a greater emphasis on best practices; (3) and the need for U.S.-Mexican academic collaboration in the study of justice-sector challenges and reform. This publication of three monographs was made possible through the generous support of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Edited by:
Dr. Wayne A. Cornelius, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, UCSD
and
Dr. David A. Shirk, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Justice in Mexico Project, USD

University of Notre Dame Press, 2007

This important collection of essays on the Mexican criminal justice system features the works of several Justice in Mexico Project collaborators, including David A. Shirk, Alejandra Ríos Cázares, Guillermo Zepeda Lecuona, Sigrid Arzt and many others.

From the book's backcover: "This landmark study examines the challenges Mexico faces in reforming the administration of its 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."

CRISIS IN OAXACA: DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
Trans-Border Institute, USD
Dec. 1, 2006
By: Robert Donnelly, Coordinator, Justice in Mexico Project
and
Verónica López Arellano, Student Assistant, Justice in Mexico Project

This eight-page brief traces the social unrest that afflicted Oaxaca City throughout summer and fall 2006. Based on journalistic and secondary sources, the brief attempts to recreate the dominant atmosphere of civil strife in the city, chronicles the rise of the leading anti-government populist force known as APPO, and intends to explain the motives and actions of a variety of significant actors, including the federal executive and the state governor. The brief also addresses the long-standing social, political, and economic injustices that have made Oaxaca fertile ground for rebellion. It attempts to shed light on the egregious violations to the state justice system, wrought by both vigilante protesters as well as by state and paramilitary security forces. The brief is part of a series of TBI policy briefs on issues affecting the U.S.-Mexican relationship

This volume is the outcome of a two multi-institutional briefings on justice reform legislation hosted by the Project and the Institute for Legislative Research of the Mexican Senate. These briefings, held in January and March, provided senators with a technical analysis of the set of major justice reform proposals presented by President Fox last year. Thanks to the remarkable consensus on the need for reform voiced by the project's diverse set of academic institutions and professional associations, it is quite certain that this effort will have a major impact in shaping the legislative debate on justice reform in Mexico (the final report has been distributed to all Federal Deputies and also to all local legislatures).

Complete Document (Spanish)(PDF) (0.9MB)

El presente volumen, resultado del esfuerzo del Proyecto para la Reforma del Sistema de Justicia en México –del Centro de Estudios México-Estados Unidos, Universidad de California en San Diego, con el amable apoyo de la Fundación William and Flora Hewlett–, presenta cuatro análisis relacionados con la transparencia y la rendición de cuentas, algunos vicios jurídicos en materia de acceso a la información, y problemas de diseño en los instrumentos para erradicar y prevenir la discriminación. Su común denominador es el análisis de herramientas ciudadanas para hacer rendir cuentas a las autoridades, y la presentación de propuestas que tienden el problema estudiado. Se someten al escrutinio público, con el objetivo de que sirvan como insumo para discusiones más amplias de política pública. Quizá, de aquí a quince o veinte años. Ruiz Euler, Alexander (coord) 2005. Transparencia y Reudicion de Cuentas, Coleccion Doctrina Juridica Contemporanea. Vol.28. Mexico: Center for US-Mexican Studies, UCSD y Fantauiara.

Complete Document (Spanish) (PDF) (1.32MB)