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: Grits for Breakfast

Mexico approves shift to more open, adversarial court system

Truly historic news from south of the Rio Grande this morning, via AP:President Felipe Calderon on Tuesday signed landmark judicial legislation that allows U.S.-style public trials and creates a presumption of innocence for the accused.Under the long-awaited constitutional amendments, guilt or innocence no longer will be decided behind closed doors by a judge relying on written evidence. Prosecutors and defense lawyers will argue their cases in court, and judges must explain their decisions to defendants."Now we can offer citizens a more transparent judicial system that respects human rights and protects your rights with more speed and efficiency," Calderon said.The law is expected to take effect Thursday. But it is unclear how quickly public trials will begin...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on June 19, 2008 (boomark / email).