Introduced in Jalisco last year, Mexico’s new justice system, modeled on the United States and other western nations, was supposed to bring a breath of fresh air to an outdated – and often corrupt – judicial process, offering increased transparency and more legal guarantees for defendants.
The reality, says Jalisco Governor Aristoteles Sandoval, is that the “Sistema Acusatorio Penal” (court-based system) is not working well and to the benefit of citizens.
This week, Sandoval blamed a spike in the number of robberies in the state on “failures” in the new system that have allowed dozens of accused criminals to walk free and reoffend.
“We can’t continue like this,” said the governor, adding that he, together with other governors, has approached the federal government to demand changes to laws that relax some of the “excessive” guarantees that are afforded to defendants under the new system.
In the first four months of 2017, robberies of businesses in Jalisco have increased 99 percent compared with the previous year, while vehicle theft has gone up 27 percent and assaults on bank customers 16.6 percent.
Specifically, Sandoval wants to amplify the list of crimes that merit prison sentences and make denial of bail obligatory for anyone with a previous conviction who is charged with a crime.