The Government of Jalisco ranks near the bottom for the administration of justice, with worse results in “order and security” and “absence of corruption”, according to the Index of the Rule of Law in Mexico, carried out by The World Justice Project.
The State registered an average score of 0.37 in the eight indicators evaluated, on a scale from 0 to 1. In 2018 it was 23rd and now 25th.
The “order and security” factor measures whether the State is effective in providing security to people and their properties. It takes into account homicides, crimes, perception of insecurity, and the fear of being a victim of a crime.
The “absence of corruption” analyzes the use of public power for private gain. Three forms of corruption are considered: bribery, undue influence, and the misappropriation of public resources. In these indicators, Jalisco is in the last places in Mexico, the most corrupt state.
According to the review, the effects of the pandemic are already beginning to be noticed, mainly due to the paralysis in the justice services that, “in the absence of provisions for open and digital justice, were forced to suspend their operation for a long period, despite the fact that all jurisdictional activity was classified as essential ”.
Due to the closure of courts in 2020, it is noted that the setbacks in the scores obtained in “criminal justice” in 16 states are a reflection of this unfortunate situation.
Of the eight factors evaluated in the Index of Rule of Law in Mexico 2020-2021, the worst results in Jalisco were in “order and security”, “absence of corruption” and “criminal justice”, among which 17 sub-factors are evaluated. Of these, the worst was “homicides”, with a score of 0.17 in the category of “order and security”. Regarding the “criminal justice” factor, the State failed in “effective criminal investigation” and “efficient and effective prosecution and administration of justice”, with 0.19 and 0.25, respectively. And in “absence of corruption in the institutions of security and law enforcement,” with a score of 0.28, on a rating scale from 0 to 1.
In “order and security” there are crimes such as drug trafficking, organized crime, money laundering, fuel theft, and human trafficking, among others, since they cannot be measured through surveys and the data provided by Mexico isn’t reliable. “The phenomenon of violence caused by organized crime is captured indirectly through homicide figures and perceptions of insecurity”, according to the study.
At the national level, there were increases in the scores of 17 States (Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Michoacán, Nayarit, Querétaro, Sinaloa, Sonora and Tamaulipas, among others), but also decreases in five Entities (Aguascalientes, Baja California, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo and Veracruz), while 10 remained unchanged in their averages (Jalisco, Chiapas, Mexico City, State of Mexico and Nuevo León, among others).
With an average of 0.47, Yucatán is in the first position for the third consecutive year of the index in general. On the other hand, Quintana Roo was at the bottom of the ranking , with an average of 0.34.
According to the analysis, the data show a weakening of press freedom and a reduction in civic space in most states, following a trend that began before the pandemic and deepened during the public health crisis.
For the third consecutive year, the worst-evaluated indicator in most states was the effectiveness of investigations by the Police and the Public Ministry.
The Rule of Law is a system of rules in which all people, institutions and entities are subject to the law, which is applied in an equitable and fair manner and in full compliance with human rights, as defined by The World Justice Project.
The four universal principles of the rule of law are accountability, fair laws, fair process, and accessible and impartial mechanisms for resolving disputes.
