Government Plan 2000-2006
 A SAFE ENVIRONMENT FOR OUR FAMILIES

 

PRESENTATION

Our third commitment is to guarantee a genuine state of law in which both private individuals and public servants abide by the law; a state in which decrees issued by our judicial authorities are respected and which, when someone violates them, are put into force by the relevant authority. Overall, we want a state in which decent people’s every activity is protected by law. We, the people of Guanajuato, wish to live in a peaceful environment.


We want a society in which our families’ rights, goods, work and living spaces are guaranteed. In our government, there will be absolute respect for the State of Law and zero tolerance when dealing with corruption, impunity and delinquency.

CURRENT SITUATION
LEGAL FRAMEWORK


The failure to update the state’s legal framework has resulted in a backlog of problems that prevent us from being able to guarantee full judicial security. A range of situations still occur that are protected by norms and regulations which have over time proved unable to satisfy current needs.


Respect for the judicial order must be shown not only by citizens: the state itself has an obligation to respect the individual rights of citizens. It is therefore important to differentiate between firmness in dealing with crimes and the abusive and excessive use of authority.


PUBLIC SAFETY
Coordinating the three levels of government in the fight against delinquency involves activities that include prevention, vigilance, and public safety operations, as well as seeking and carrying out justice in such a way as to guarantee respect for people and people’s property.


One yardstick by which to measure the level of security in the state is the reported offences index which details the number of offences reported to the authorities per thousand of population.

To combat and prevent criminal acts against public property requires the combined involvement of municipal, state and federal security forces.

THE PURSUIT AND EXECUTION OF JUSTICE

The success rate of arrest warrants issued by police authorities reached 78% from 1995 to 200031. The challenge faced in attempting to carry out justice in the state will be to recover public credibility by showing authorities to be effective.

The failure to deal with offences is a problem that threatens the peace and threatens respect for citizens. For this reason, it is essential that we tackle the crime phenomenon by extending the coverage of police services within the state. There are currently 147 Ministerio Público agency offices in the state; 98 for crime investigators, 48 departmental offices and one mixed; as well as Ministerio Público police stations33.

Each year, the Procuraduría General de Justicia, Mexico’s justice department, carries out approximately 51,000 initial enquiries, of which 45 thousand are satisfactorily concluded, leaving 6,000 unresolved35. The fact that this figure is so low is a reflection of a more demanding and participative public.


The Procuraduría de los Derechos Humanos, the official human rights ombudsman, has set out a series of recommendations that all public servants must take into consideration if we are to generate a culture of respect for human rights. Evidently, further efforts are needed to discourage human rights abuses and violations. One way to do this is by improving the ways in which the victims of such abuses are treated and involved throughout the various stages of the penal process: this in an effort to ensure that they are compensated for any harm done or that the right which has been infringed upon is revindicated.

The implementation of justice in labor matters is extremely significant where its aim is to ensure peaceful coexistence between all parties involved in production in the state, by maintaining equilibrium in the relationship between workers and employers.

In labor matters, it is necessary to avoid delays in processes, to deal with the backlog of unresolved disputes, and avoid legal uncertainties in the application of the law. Consequently, the challenge is to provide citizens with prompt and unbiased attention in labor matters.

Of 1,721 strikes declared between 1995 and 2000, only 1636 actually reached that stage, indicating positive results by the state’s conciliation and arbitration committees, and consequently benefs for productive activity in the state.

Similarly, the Contentious Administrative Proceedings Tribunal has been granted full jurisdiction, so guaranteeing control over the legality of state and municipal authorities. Hence, through component resolutions, there is the revindication of rights that have been infringed upon.

THE REHABILITATION OF OFFENDERS

In order to maintain security, guarantee dignified conditions and respect for human rights in prisons, and the rehabilitation of people deprived of their liberty by judicial order, the state maintains nine inmate rehabilitation centers, or CERESOs, as well as one youth offender center. The current population of these centers is 3,232, in an area built to contain 2,819 people, an overpopulation of 2,819, or some 16%. With the opening of the Valle de Santiago rehabilitation center with its 1,165-inmate capacity, this overpopulation will fall to just 37.

Any state which fails to respect the human rights of those who violate the law encourages animosity and a lack of respect for authority. Consequently the rehabilitation of offenders becomes more difficult. Dealing with offenders of various types in a more appropriate way so as to enable their reintegration into society is an area which has gained increased attention in the legal world.

The rehabilitation programs already underway in the state need to be developed further and provided with more support, particularly in the areas of education, work and work training.

The support and supervision of ex-offenders after their release needs to be reinforced and broadened.

In order to avoid the problems of overpopulation, and also to ensure dignified conditions and respect for human rights in the state’s penal institutions, it is necessary to draw up a corresponding development plan to cover the period up to 2025.

LEGAL SECURITY

There is a clear need to guarantee public certainty in civil and registration procedures involving property, for which reason the quality of the related services provided must be improved. To do this, trained staff is required, together with efficient, modern and reliable technology.

LAND OWNERSHIP AND SETTLEMENTS

In both rural and urban areas, there is a significant lack of certainty and a serious backlog in the settling and registration of land ownership. Action is therefore necessary in order to regularize land used for agricultural or livestock purposes and land which lacks ownership titles; make agricultural or livestock farming partnership schemes legal; resolve agricultural disputes between the three levels of government; and regulate unauthorized housing settlements38.

OBJECTIVES

GENERAL OBJECTIVE

1. To ensure a legal framework that responds to society’s needs and provides proper supervision of the performance of state authorities.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE

1.1 To ensure the updating of the state’s legal framework, paying particular attention to changes in the juridical order.

  • Goals to 2006

• To send whatever reform initiatives that are deemed necessary to the state congress, applying revisions to the following areas in particular: public and private transport, public safety, the administration and execution of justice, private housing developments, people with special abilities, social security provision for state workers, general crime legislation, public participation, and so on.

Strategies

          1. Consult citizens and organizations involved in the area to discover their opinion on initiatives.

          2. Introduce mechanisms through which the proposals of all those involved in social issues and can be collected and shaped into a wide and diverse range of legislative proposals.

            3.

          3. Revise the current legal and administrative framework in all the government offices and departments of the state.

  • Actions

• Draw up programs based on reform initiatives springing from the needs detected in the offices and departments of state public administration throughout the state.

• Establish and update the rules and regulations in force in state government offices and departments.

• Issue any government decrees necessary to deal with the needs of public administration.

General Objective


2. To safeguard order, peace and respect for individuals, and the protection provided for their goods, their freedom and their dignity.

Specific objective


2.1 To effectively deal with the demand for public safety.

  • Goals to 2006

• To implement a state program of public safety and ensure that the 46 municipalities introduce similar programs in their respective areas.

  • Strategies

2.1.1 Introduce mechanisms to ensure public participation in the implementation of the State Public Safety Program.

2.1.2 Encourage public involvement in the implementation of municipal public safety programs.

2.1.3 Establish, implement and maintain a State Public Safety Program.

  • Actions

• Ensure constant monitoring of the public safety programs underway in the 46 municipalities.

• Train public servants and those involved in the State Safety Council and the municipal safety committees in public safety matters.

• Train state and municipal police chiefs in policing strategy and program implementation.

• Support municipal police forces by providing them with the equipment and state-of-the-art technology that will help in crime prevention.

Specific objective


2.2 Reduce the number of crimes perpetrated in the state.

  • Goals to 2006

• To reduce the crime rate to 9.9 (i.e. the number of crimes reported per 1000 inhabitants).

  • Strategies

2.2.1 Sign agreements with the three levels of government and government powers.

2.2.2 Establish crime reduction programs involving government and the public.

2.2.3 Provide support for the State System of Public Safety.

  • Actions

• Employ interinstitutional operations to provide support for the municipalities in areas with high crime rates.

• Carry out publicity campaigns in the media to reach families and educate them regarding crime prevention measures.

• Propose and support crime prevention programs carried out by municipal police forces.

• Hold planning and progress meetings with those in the three levels of government involved in crime prevention measures and tackling crime.

• Provide support and advice to municipalities regarding ways to prevent crime.

Specific objective


2.3 To encourage a culture of crime prevention.

  • Goals to 2006

• To consolidate the working of the State Council and the municipal public safety committees.


• To encourage public participation in the aforementioned bodies.

  • Strategies

2.3.1 Encourage public participation in public safety issues.

2.3.2 Promote a culture of reporting crimes.

2.3.3 Take measures to reinforce the public’s trust in those institutions responsible for crime prevention.

2.3.4 Develop and apply educational models aimed at crime prevention.

  • Actions

• Increase public participation in the State Public Safety Program.

• Implement public information campaigns to create a culture of reporting crimes.

Specific objective


2.4. To strengthen civil protection activities.

  • Goals to 2006

• To consolidate a program of effective action concerning civil protection.

  • Strategies

2.4.1 Promote a culture of accident prevention and planned response to natural disasters.

  • Actions

• Form emergency attention teams.


• Update and systematically distribute the Atlas Estatal de Riesgos, the state guidelines concerning accidents and risks.


• Design and distribute material that promotes civil protection.

 

General Objective


3. To combat criminal activity which causes harm to citizens, their families and their property, or public property.

 

Specific objective


3.1. To eradicate impunity in the application of justice

  • Goals to 2006

• To reduce the average number of preliminary enquiries being processed at any one time by the police department to 20.

• To reduce the proportion of preliminary enquiries referred to reserve forces to 25%.

• To increase the success rate of investigation reports to 70%.

• To increase the success rate of arrest warrants and court orders to 80%.

  • Strategies

3.1.1 Strengthen the bodies and departments involved in the application of justice.

  • Actions

• Participate in collaborative agreements aimed at eradicating impunity in all processes and at all levels.

• Improve all the procedures and activities of the police, police agencies and investigative services.

• Ensure an effective support for investigative services.

• Improve the quality of investigations and the presentation of results of preliminary enquiries before judges.

• Review the current judicial framework and propose reforms where necessary.

• Dignify the work of the police, police agencies and investigative services.

• Investigate crimes and pursue criminals with the aid of scientific and technological advances.

• Strengthen programs that encourage a culture of reporting crimes.

Specific objective


3.2 To increase the number of favorable outcomes for victims of crime.

  • Goals to 2006

• To increase the proportion of arrest warrants and subpoenas issued to 90% of those requested.

• To increase the proportion of court rulings that favor the Ministerio Público to 90%.

• To increase the involvement of the Ministerio Público in civil matters in the 23 judicial districts.

  • Strategies

3.2.1 Use of all legal resources.

3.2.2 Provide legal aid and advice.

3.2.3 Improve the attention given to users.

Specific objective


3.3 To achieve administrative justice, providing free legal advice to the public.

  • Goals to 2006

• Increase the provision of free legal advice by 90%.

  • Strategies

3.3.1 Regionalize the administrative functions involved in the activities of the public defenders office.

3.3.2 Increase the infrastructure and personnel involved in the administrative functions of public defenders.

3.3.3 Publicize the legal advice services available.

General Objective


4. To create development opportunities for prisoners and ex-convicts within the secure environment of rehabilitation units.

Specific objective


4.1 To ensure the rehabilitation of inmates at rehabilitation units and youth offender centers and their productive and peaceful return to society. To maintain security.

  • Goals to 2006

• To strengthen inmate development schemes and security systems at rehabilitation centers.

  • Strategies

4.1.1 Additional training for administrative and security personnel.

4.1.2 Further maintenance, improvements and additions to prison infrastructure

4.1.3 Provide and maintain state-of-the-art equipment

Actions

• Draw up, carry out and monitor the programs of staff training, infrastructure building and improvement, and equipment provision in the state’s prisons.

Specific objective


4.2 To ensure the effective rehabilitation of offenders and their productive and peaceful reincorporation into society.

Goals to 2006

• To increase the participation rate of inmates in education, work and work training programs. • To increase the attention provided to ex-convicts and the families of inmates through the Patronato para la Reincorporación Social por el Empleo, an organization involved in helping ex-convicts return to society and employment.

  • Strategies

4.2.1 Improve the level of education and increase the number of training courses and sources of employment available to inmates.

4.2.2 Provide support for the productive reincorporation of ex-offenders into society.

Provide support for the families of inmates or ex-offenders.

  • Actions

• Increase the number of spaces available for education, work and work training purposes.

• Strengthen campaigns against drug-addiction and alcoholism.

• Organize cultural, civic, sports and family activities for inmates.

• Establish agreements with employers and institutions regarding the hiring of ex-offenders.

General Objective
5. To guarantee the provision of quality legal assistance.

Specific objective
5.1 To extend the coverage of those services providing legal advice and attention to the public.

Goals to 2006

• To fully attend to the victims of crime in the state.

• To extend the coverage of the free legal representation service in civil matters to the 46 municipalities of the state.

• To attend to, and provide with free professional advice 100% of those requiring such a service and who have been victim of some kind of offence.

  • Strategies

5.1.1 Reinforce the training provided for legal and administrative personnel.

5.1.2 Provide, as standard procedure, psychological, medical and legal support for the victims of crime.

Actions

• Provide those offices and departments involved in providing legal assistance with the material and human resources they require.

• Train legal and administrative personnel.

Specific objective


5.2 To enhance the legal security of services provided by the state regarding civil status, public, notary and property ownership registry procedures.

  • Goals to 2006

• To attend to and carry out the requests of the public concerning the registration of marriages.


• To ensure the legal endorsement of property ownership claims made by Guanajuato’s citizens.

  • Strategies

5.2.1 Increase the human, financial, and material resources available in order to ensure the satisfactory provision of services in the Civil Registry Office.

5.2.2 Prepare programs to ensure the regularization of property ownership in urban areas.

5.2.3 Coordinate and effectively oversee notary activities.

Actions

• Train and professionalize Civil Registry personnel.

• Modernize the Civil Registry with existing technology.

• Improve Civil Registry Office facilities.

• Supervise the registration process involved in registering marriages. Improve and maintain the quality of service in such proceedings.

• Standardize the registration procedures used at the Civil Registry Office.

• Provide additional training and legal and administrative personnel.

• Modernize and extend the coverage provided by the Public Registry of Property Ownership.

• Implement an electronic numbering system in 100% of the offices in the state that deal with property ownership registration.

• Make the procedure involved in certifying agricultural activity quicker and more efficient.

• Advance the reforms required in notary law.

• Guarantee and extend the coverage of the Property Ownership Registry modernization program.

General Objective

6. To prevent and effectively deal with labor disputes.

Specific objective

6.1 To provide prompt and effective attention to labor matters.

  • Goals to 2006

• To reduce by 30% the number of individual labor disputes sent to conciliation and arbitration committees and unresolved in the time periods established by law.

• To reach resolutions within a maximum of 15 working days.

• To increase the number of individual labor disputes resolved through conciliation by 30%.

• To promptly and effectively deal with collective labor disputes in the state.

• To increase the number of companies inspected by 30%, as well as the number of workers attended to by the Procuraduría de la Defensa del Trabajo, the state’s workers rights ombudsman.

  • Strategies

6.1.1 Improve the amount and the quality of the training provided to legal and administrative personnel.

6.1.2 Reinforce and support the body responsible for workplace inspections.

6.1.3 Provide workers with information regarding workers’ rights.

  • Actions

• Train legal and administrative personnel.

• Provide the offices and departments involved in labor affairs with the necessary human and material resources.

• Carry out a publicity campaign to bring attention to the work of the Procuraduría de la Defensa del Trabajo.

Specific objective


6.2 To ensure administrative justice through the issuing of component resolutions.

  • Goals to 2006

• To increase by 30% the number of component and related resolutions voluntarily reached by authorities.

•Increase preventative measures by 90%.

•To reduce by 20% the number of administrative appeals claims, reviews and complaints.

•Increase the number of final judgments by 60%.

• To reduce the number of warrants and court orders that are discarded or fail to be acted upon by 40%.

  • Strategies

6.2.1 Update and standardize criteria based on an analysis of comparative law at home and abroad.

6.2.2 Carry out studies aimed at perfecting legislation related to the pursuit and execution of justice.

6.2.3 Promote preventive justice programs and a culture of respect for the law.

6.2.4 Improve the quality of agreements and sentences.

6.2.5 Issue agreements that favor preventative justice.

6.2.6 Offer training and advice to municipal administrative judges.

  • Actions

• Professionalize public servants working at the Tribunal de lo Contencioso Administrativo, the administrative appeals tribunal.

• Facilitate the processes involved in consulting files.

• Organize conferences, workshops, seminars and talks on administrative justice.