With less than two years until the New Criminal Justice System (Nuevo Sistema de Justicia Penal, NSJP) is slated to be fully implemented and operational nationwide, Mexico’s Attorney General recently spoke of the challenges inherent within the new system. Addressing the Chamber of Deputies, Jesús Murillo Karam explained that the switch from an inquisitorial system to more of an accusatorial system based on oral trials is not just a change in the justice system, but also a change in mindset. “It’s about fundamentally constructing something much more difficult—a new mentality. A new form of justice that requires a new perception of public servants, those that work inside the vocation, that have the ethical principles that a public servant requires to impart justice, and that can apply [the law] and support it,” said Murillo Karam.
Part of creating this new mindset, he continued, is to strengthen judicial processes and criminal investigations at various levels of government and across agencies. He also reiterated the importance of not misinterpreting one state’s challenges with justice as general challenges across all states. He specifically pointed to the security issues recently in Michoacán, and explained that it is not representative of the nation as a whole. “I think that the problem is to think of it as a national strategy. The problems in Michoacán have nothing to do with those in Chihuahua. They are completely different,” he explained. “If we apply one strategy for two separate problems, it’s a mistake. Therefore we have different strategies [for each] state.”
As such, it is important to recognize both the progress and challenges each state faces on an individual level as they move towards fully implementing the NSJP by June 2016.
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