Pre-Trial Detention and Imprisonment: An Unresolved Issue in Mexico

Abstract

This article aims to determine the effectiveness of the constitutional reform in the field of human rights in Mexico, whose central axis is the presumption of innocence. The reform is a mechanism that would enable the reduction of the prison population. Taking into consideration the previous modifications to the criminal justice model and the country's option for the accusatory system, the need to opt for support for due process guarantees became an encouraging decision in a national context where the violation of human rights, and especially those of persons deprived of liberty, continues to be an issue still to be resolved. Also, the present paper applied the methodology of analysis of the figures for persons in pre-trial detention in the states of the Mexican Republic and Mexico City; the objective of the study was to know, in an accurate manner, whether or not the number of persons in prison increased as expected. Therefore, the necessary consideration of the public security problem that has been going on for more than a decade is brought to the discussion, which is an issue that has not been resolved and, although in some areas it was reduced, in others it has been revived. It is urgent for the Mexican State to address the prison problem through decent wages, the treatment of addictions, and the attention to the lack of opportunities, among many other issues.