Training Seminar in Mexico on the Use of Pretrial Detention

NEW YORK—The Open Society Justice Initiative today launched two training seminars on pretrial detention, one each in the Mexican states of Aguascalientes and Zacatecas. Participants include members of the judiciary, the prosecution service, the public defender's office, the civil service, nongovernmental organizations, and private lawyers.

The three-day seminars will take place over three consecutive weekends, with one day in each state. They will provide specialized training to justice sector actors who have contact with criminal suspects before trial, to encourage greater reliance on widely recognized standards in the use of pretrial detention.

Currently the Mexican justice system relies heavily on pretrial detention in enforcing the law and protecting citizens. But the rights of detainees are often violated.

Pretrial detention has not been shown to lower crime. A study, Myths of Pretrial Detention in Mexico, published by the Justice Initiative in Mexico in November 2004, shows that the number of people who endure pretrial detention in Mexico has doubled over the last ten years, but crime rates have not decreased and people do not feel safer.

The Justice Initiative seminars aim to provide justice actors with the basic knowledge and skills necessary to respond effectively to this challenge.

The training seminars address the domestic legal framework for pretrial detention, the costs, and the myths invoked to justify its widespread use. Experts will review the presumption of innocence and the local application in Aguascalientes and Zacatecas of international and regional jurisprudence on pretrial detention. The seminars in each state will close with a discussion of effective bail supervision and pretrial service programs from Mexico and elsewhere. Participants will critically examine cases for comparative approaches to due process, the presumption of innocence, and pretrial detention.

The seminars follow a series of training programs on due process and oral proceedings conceived by the Mexican nongovernmental organization Pro Derecho. The programs, mounted by Justice Initiative partner Renace, together with Pro Derecho, the Mexican National Human Rights Commission, the State Human Rights Commissions of Aguascalientes and Zacatecas, and the Mexican Federation of Public Human Rights.