Jalisco’s judiciary is far from an exemplary judicial system due to delays in the delivery of justice and distrust of the public, which experience corruption in state courts.
According to the latest National Census of State Justice Distribution for 2023 from Inegi, Jalisco ranked 19th out of 32 entities in sentencing with only 306 cases settled by 2022.
In comparison, Mexico City ranks first with 9,315, followed by the State of Mexico with 7,723.
The Jalisco Judicial Branch has managed to finish only 51% of all cases accumulated in its jurisdiction, State justice delivery as estimated from national census.
“Delays in the delivery of justice in Jalisco’s judicial branch are more evident than those that occur at the federal level,” points out Anuar Garcia of the SOS Group Jalisco Chapter.
The expert cites several reasons for this situation: the insufficient number of judges and courts in existence and the high number of pending hearings that need to be resolved.
He added that These delays lead to overcrowding in state prisons, because of the high number of people in preventive detention who have not yet been sentenced.
Besides, The Rule of Law in Mexico Index 2023, from the World Justice Project, ranks Jalisco 27th out of 32 in the “absence of corruption” category..
Anuar García added that the judicial reform that will be discussed in the Chamber of Deputies will not be able to solve the problem of corruption in the country’s judicial system.
“It will make things worse because, with the current system of becoming a judge through competition, knowledge and judicial careers, even delays in the administration of justice, let’s imagine someone who is a lawyer for a simple truth and can be voted for citizens suddenly complex legal Problem solved.”
Hence, there will be no legal certainty in the country and rights of citizens will be violated, he added.
Marco del Toro, a criminal lawyer, similarly considers that judicial reform is not intended to fight corruption. “It will not contribute anything to it, on the contrary, in my opinion it is going to worsen the problem of justice in Mexico.”
According to the president of the state Department of Justice, Daniel Espinosa Licon, there is a 70% increase in domestic violence cases and a 40% increase in domestic child sexual abuse cases by August 2023, setting back these and other cases. subject
Besides, The number of prosecutions in all matters increases by up to 16% every year, further exacerbating the problem.
This is what the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court said in Jalisco There are barely two judges for every 100,000 inhabitants; International standards state that there must be five And in Europe they reach 22 per 100 thousand.
Today the Chamber of Deputies is expected to discuss reforms to the judiciary which, among other things, seek popular election of judges. For now, young university students, civic associations and activists have announced mobilization across the country.
Daniel Espinosa Licon admits that the judicial branch of the state is deficient, so a reform will be important, as long as it is the most suitable for the system and discussed by all concerned. Informant. Navarre
They plan to cut back and gain social trust
The announcement was made in July last year The judiciary will have a constitutional budget this year, representing 2% of the government’s total budget. Jaliscoreached 3,342 million pesos (more than 40% compared to the 2023 budget).
The National Census of State Judicial Administration revealed that there were only 272 judges in various judicial bodies in our state. But that is not all, as the current situation of the Judiciary (PJ) has led citizens to distrust them in general, mainly because they are considered corrupt.
According to Inegy’s National Survey of Victimization and Perceptions of Urban Public Safety, presented last September, 65.7% of Jalisco citizens say they think judges are corrupt, second only to highway police officers.
In this regard, It has come to light that some judges act, for example, under nepotism, The publishing company made the announcement in 2023, when it was revealed that 15 of the 33 justices on the state Supreme Court of Justice confirmed that they had relatives in the organization.
Furthermore, as of last July, the Presiding Magistrate of the Judiciary affirmed, they About 50 judges who were investigated for allegations of negligence in files under their charge.
Last July, during the dialogue table held in Jalisco to analyze the reform proposals, the president of the State Judiciary, Daniel Espinosa Licon, admitted that there are deficiencies and inconsistencies in the organization, as it happens in all the powers of the country. That is why he agrees that there is a reform, as long as it is the most appropriate and discussed by all the organizations involved.
For his part, researcher Marcos del Rosario Rodriguez of the Western Institute of Technology and Higher Studies (ITESO) considers that, Among the major failures of the Judiciary, in Jalisco And in Mexico, there is one that generally associates judges and magistrates with the government in office to prosecute certain cases.
He said that while judicial reforms are needed, the right to career of judges must prevail, as those who are best prepared for their positions must come to office, always maintaining integrity in their work. For this reason, he points out, it is a mistake to consider that judges and magistrates proposed by the President can be elected by the people.
The researchers consider that they may worsen some of the problems previously addressed, since, by engaging in campaigns to make themselves known to citizens, there is a risk that cases will be overlooked and delays will increase.
Another problem that may be at stake, and with it the potential for expected acts of corruption, is that it lends itself to the compensation of favors for promoting a judge’s candidacy in exchange for benefiting him in particular cases.
This has already been addressed by the Judiciary Observatory in its Jalisco 2020 Judiciary Capacity Study, which indicated that The influence of political parties is a common exercise in the work of the judiciary officials in the state of Jalisco that saturates the decisions made there and, in turn, helps to fuel the acts of corruption.
Marco del Toro: The legal expert believes that the reform should be analyzed better because otherwise it will not solve the problem of corruption. Informant. Navarre
Interview
“This reform does not make a real choice.”
Marco del Toro, a criminal lawyer, denied that the judicial reform proposed for discussion in the Chamber of Deputies by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was intended to fight corruption. Mention some points about what this change might entail.
What are its details?
It is certainly true that judicial power has declined. The level of corruption has been there for several years, not just now.
The Federal Judiciary has always had a very high level of policy and strategy, i.e. a reliable judiciary. The level of corruption has increased due to various reasons. Even from obscurity or existence began to litigate those who were consultants lobbyist Judicial officers who started luring judges with money and selling resolutions. But it is still the cleanest in the country.
Does reform attack corruption?
Will we attack this corruption? Of course yes. The question is whether the proposed constitutional reforms are intended to end corruption and not. This is not the case because the reform involves the removal of 1,600 federal judges and magistrates, the nation’s Supreme Court of Justice and the ministers of every state in the republic to remove all their judges in order to replace them. All this through the electoral process.
I do not believe that this reform poses a real choice. Voters will face a ballot where 600 names appear to elect 350 judges and magistrates.
Of course, the voters won’t even know anyone on the list of 600. An election truly assumes that the voter knows the options. It happens to us in Mexico that many people vote for deputies without knowing them and without knowing who they are, but at least they vote for the party they represent. In the case of judges and magistrates, there will be no party and voters will find a list of people who will not know who they are.
Judges and magistrates go where?
Judges and magistrates may request precautionary measures before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, prior to UN reportorship, so that the reform is not implemented after the vote.
It must be voted on and approved by our Congress. This reform will in no way help to end corruption, on the contrary, in my opinion it will worsen and worsen the problem of justice in Mexico.
