NUEVO LEON CASE STUDY: GRAFTING ORAL TRIALS ON TOP OF THE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MONTERREY 000558 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KJUS KCRM PHUM MX SUBJECT: NUEVO LEON CASE STUDY: GRAFTING ORAL TRIALS ON TOP OF THE TRADITIONAL JUDICIAL SYSTEM REF: A) MONTERREY 1011; B) MEXICO 1889 MONTERREY 00000558 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. Nuevo Leon was the first Mexican state to experiment with oral trials, but the reform effort has stalled because of limited implementation. The respected NGO Renace conducted an empirical study of how the oral trials reform has fared in Nuevo Leon. Renace found that oral trials are used in few cases, and even under this new system written documents predominate and defense lawyers raise few oral objections. Renace and several experts concluded that the bold reform has been undermined through limited political will and timid implementation. End summary. Innovator Falls Behind ¶2. (U) Nuevo Leon conducted the first oral trials in Mexico in 2005, focusing on lesser criminal offenses. Several other states, often with support from USAID, have since conducted oral trials, and other states are moving in that direction (see reftel A). In June 2008 President Calderon signed a legal reform to implement an adversarial system, with oral trials, throughout Mexico within eight years (see reftel B). However, the Mexican model differs significantly from the United States system in that, for example, it does not include trial by jury (reftel A). The countrywide goal of the judicial reform is to provide a legal system that is faster, less corrupt, and more respected by the Mexican public. ¶3. (SBU) Although Nuevo Leon began as the innovator in oral trials, these reforms remain limited to a small number of less serious criminal offenses, and only involve the trial phase, not other aspects of the judicial process such as the investigation, determination whether to charge the suspect or sentencing. Renace is a respected NGO that works on criminal justice, and has received funding from the Ford Foundation and USAID. Renace conducted an empirical study on the Nuevo Leon judicial system from 2004 to 2007 through interviews, documents, and attendance at 156 conferences (15% of the total) in preparation for trial, including 15 oral trials. Meager Results from the Oral Trial Reform ¶4. (U) According to Renace's analysis of 2007 data, exceptionally few cases received an oral trial. There were 72,606 criminal cases registered with the Nuevo Leon attorney general's office in 2007, and the attorney general's office resolved 94% of these cases itself, and only forwarded 3,728 to the judicial system for resolution. Note. The Nuevo Leon attorney general's office notes it sent 4,143 cases to the judicial system, but the Nuevo Leon judicial system only recorded receiving 3,728 cases. End Note. Of the 3,728 cases, 946 were eligible for an oral trial, and Nuevo Leon's judicial system only conducted 58 oral trials in 2007, or 6% of the eligible cases, and 1.6% of the total cases reported to the judicial system. ¶5. (U) Renace found the old system still predominated in the oral trials, as judges depended on previously submitted papers to reach their decisions. Renace concluded that while judges preside at oral trials, often their decisions were already prepared beforehand. Written documents predominated at the oral trials, since the state prosecutors submitted documents in 98% of the cases, the judges had written documents 98% of the time, and defense attorneys submitted papers in 60% of the hearings. There were no written documents in only 2% of the cases. (Of course, U.S. lawyers also submit papers in many oral hearings.) Renace noted that the oral trials in Nuevo Leon tended to be brief and that the defense attorneys made few oral objections. It found that on an average the total trial lasted less than 15 minutes in 35% of the cases, between 15 minutes and a half hour in 42% of the cases and only 6% took an hour or more. Furthermore, after subtracting the time spent on legal formalities, Renace observed that 72% of the oral hearings took less than 15 minutes, 13% of the hearings were between 15 and 30 MONTERREY 00000558 002.2 OF 002 minutes and 4% of the cases took more than one hour. ¶6. (SBU) Several legal commentators have blasted Nuevo Leon for gradually implementing the oral trial reform, stating that this timid approach has failed to change the legal culture. Miguel Trevino, a leading journalist for Grupo Reforma and professor at the Technological Institute of Monterrey's School of Graduate Studies in Public Administration (EGAP),stated that Chihuahua's approach is much better, since that state is making fundamental reforms, even if it is implementing them slowly. According to Trevino, Nuevo Leon has adopted an incomplete reform, and has not shown the political will, or allocated the necessary resources, to move forward. More Political Will and Resources Needed to Change the System ¶7. (SBU) Comment. Based on the Nuevo Leon experience, it is clear that a true reform of the Mexican legal system depends on substantial and continuing political leadership to overcome the many elements of the judicial system that prefer the old ways. End Comment. WILLIAMSON