During 2023, eight out of ten crimes at the national level were dismissed, and therefore there were no culprits, while the crime with the highest incidence was family violence with 27,500 cases, and of every 100 femicides, only 13 were solved. This is included in the report 'Findings 2023 Monitoring and Evaluation of Criminal Justice in Mexico', released by México Evalúa.
Regarding federal crimes, the highest rates of impunity are in forced disappearance with 99.5%, extortion with 98.3%, fraud with 97.2%, and intentional homicide with 96.8%.
Mariana Campos, director of México Evalúa, highlighted during the presentation that all data for the investigation are the result of the Transparency Platform of the National Institute of Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data (Inai), thus she asked President Claudia Sheinbaum to reconsider its disappearance or possible merging with the National Anti-Corruption Secretariat.
"Currently, only 3.6% of investigation files reach a judge. One of the factors for this low percentage is the lack of criminal investigation capabilities, which is the responsibility of state prosecutors," said Susana Camacho, Coordinator of the Justice Program at México Evalúa.
In 2023, 2,162,227 investigation files were initiated, of which 87.9% had no detainees, totaling 1,900,769; only 99,289 presumed culprits were linked to a legal process, that is, 3.6%.
According to the report, prosecutors, courts, and public defenders face significant workloads, which could lead to procedural errors, rushed investigations, or inadequate defenses, thus compromising due process. In 2023, each prosecutor or public ministry agent handled an average of 310 investigation files, a notable increase from the 181 reported in 2022, while each criminal judge handled an average of 356 cases.
Regarding states that have implemented measures to improve their justice systems, 18 entities stand out that already have a digital complaint process, such as Aguascalientes, Baja California, Chihuahua, Mexico City, Colima, State of Mexico, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Tabasco, and Veracruz.
The most common crime in the states during 2023 was family violence, making up 29% of the total common crimes, while robbery accounted for 24%. In federal crimes, drug dealing stood out with 11%, injuries with 9.9%, homicide with 7%, rape with 3.9%, sexual abuse with 3.6%, and fraud with almost 3%.
The report highlighted that in registered femicide cases in the country, only 13 are solved for every 100, and regarding homicide, only 3 are solved for every 100. According to the report, from 2016 to 2023, emergency calls related to incidents of violence against women increased from 3,898 to 34,719, which is an almost tenfold increase; meanwhile, family violence crimes increased from 7,721 to 27,500, that is, nearly quadrupled.
Finally, in the report, México Evalúa issued 10 recommendations to improve the Criminal Justice System: 1. Systemically articulate and evaluate criminal justice. 2. Strategically redistribute spending among the areas and institutions of criminal justice. 3. Develop operational models aligned with state policies and priorities. 4. Commit to operations towards a guarantee-based and non-punitive model, prioritizing freedom and alternative solutions. 5. Finalize the development of solid criminal investigations framed in context analysis. 6. Increase non-punitive resolution options, such as mediation, reconciliation, and restorative processes. 7. Enhance the capacity of criminal justice institutions to respond to societal demands and needs. 8. Ensure proactive transparency exercises by key criminal justice system institutions. 9. Communicate the work and results of criminal justice institutions to the citizenry. 10. Collaborate and maintain communication channels between citizens and institutions for the construction and monitoring of solutions that improve the justice system.
