State Level Justice Reform Initiatives in Mexico

Abstract

This brief examines the nature, importance, and potential benefits of recent state-level justice reform initiatives in Mexico. In addition to the potential benefits of enhancing the rule of law in Mexico, such reforms may trend toward a gradual harmonization of legal practices, standards, and procedures in the United States and Mexico. This, in turn, could facilitate greater understanding and more effective cooperation between the two countries on legal matters. Regardless of the end result, however, it is clear that the decentralized efforts to reform Mexico’s criminal justice reform at the state level have been an important precursor to national-level reform, and a useful illustration of the benefits of policy experimentation within Mexico’s federal system.