“Innocent until proven guilty” comes to Mexico

In the U.S., the term “innocent until proven guilty” is so much a part of our legal culture and is so ingrained in our minds that it’s shocking to think that legal systems exist in which people are not, in fact, presumed innocent. A belief in individual rights is very much a product of Western culture, but even in the West one finds a variety of different court systems.

In Mexico, for example, individuals have not traditionally enjoyed the ”innocent before proven guilty” presumption. That situation is only now in the process of changing. As this article in the International Herald Tribune notes, Mexico is in the midst of a constitutional shift that will finally provide rights to accused persons and will overturn remnants of a legal system that was inherited from 16th century Spain.

Mexico is in the midst of a legal revolution, and Cristal Gonzalez is on the front lines. The U.S.-trained lawyer is one of a growing number of Mexican attorneys putting judges, lawyers, investigators and clerks through crash courses in justice, now that Mexico has amended its constitution to throw out its inept and corrupt legal system…

On a recent evening, the 30-year-old lawyer explained Mexico’s new rules of justice to a class of 200 professionals with the clarity of a preschool teacher: “The accused is IN-NO-CENT until proven guilty! Confessions cannot be coerced. Which means the person cannot be submitted to …?” She paused for a response.

“Torture,” several students answered in unison.

Under the constitutional amendment passed by the legislature, approved by all 32 states and signed by President Felipe Calderon, Mexico has eight years to replace its closed proceedings with public trials in which defendants are presumed innocent, legal authorities can be held more accountable and justice is equal.

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