VZCZCXRO3744
PP RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
DE RUEHMC #0354/01 2671850
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 241850Z SEP 09
FM AMCONSUL MONTERREY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3945
INFO RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO PRIORITY 5020
RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC
RUEABND/DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMIN HQ WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/HQ USNORTHCOM
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHMC/AMCONSUL MONTERREY 9551

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MONTERREY 000354 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
ONDCP FOR PAT WARD/BRAD HITTLE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM SNAR PGOV SOCI PHUM MX
SUBJECT: NUEVO LEON MOVES AHEAD WITH ORAL TRIAL PROGRAM 
 
REF: 08 MONTERREY 558 
 
MONTERREY 00000354  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  During a September 4 briefing, Nuevo Leon 
state and university officials told the Ambassador that around 
50 percent of all trials in the state are now conducted at an 
oral hearing, the result of 2004 legislation mandating the 
change.  Officials said they had intentionally introduced the 
new system slowly to give the court system time to adjust to the 
changes.  However, state officials are moving cautiously ahead 
with plans to apply oral trial methodology to serious criminal 
cases, including organized crime, out of fear that the criminals 
will exploit the system before the state has a fully developed 
plan for such cases.  The state and federal governments have 
funded new training programs and law students at the University 
of Nuevo Leon now have the opportunity to view ongoing trials by 
CCTV as part of their training program.  The state Attorney 
General acknowledged the need to respect human rights during law 
enforcement activities, but opined that organized criminals were 
the most serious threat to human rights.  End summary. 
 
 
 
¶2.  (SBU) At a September 4 meeting with the Ambassador, Nuevo 
Leon state Attorney General Luis Carlos Trevino described an 
ongoing transition in the state from written to oral trials.  As 
evidence, he said his court system was now conducting oral 
trials for 110 criminal offenses, up from only five when the 
state legislated oral trials in 2004.  The meeting, held at the 
University of Nuevo Leon (UANL) campus, also included Office of 
National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Director Gil Kerlikowske, 
USAID Director, Consul General, State Supreme Court Chief 
Justice Jorge Luis Mancillas, and UANL Law School Director Jose 
Luis Prado. 
 
 
 
Slow Implementation, But Steady Progress 
 
---------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Trevino explained that his office slowly introduced 
the oral trial system to allow a written trial-focused legal 
system time to adapt.  Judge Mancillas added that oral trials 
began with minor traffic incidents involving financial 
restitution, not imprisonment.  Currently, he said, over fifty 
percent of all criminal cases are tried in an oral court, 
including those of juveniles.  The federal system initially 
resisted the state's move to oral trials and often denied 
injunctions that resulted from them, he recalled.  This, 
however, is no longer the case.  (Note:  After several years of 
debate, in June 2008 Mexico amended its constitution to mandate 
oral trials nationwide.  End note.) 
 
 
 
Shorter Trials, More Transparency 
 
--------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Mancillas noted that because the proceedings are 
recorded, court records are more resistant to manipulation. 
Speed is another advantage, he said.  Public resistance to civil 
oral trials diminished after cases that would have normally 
taken several months under the written trial system began to be 
resolved in only a few days when taken to an oral trial.  Under 
the written trial system, litigants commonly leased houses near 
the court due to the length of the proceedings, he added.  As a 
result of shorter trial periods, criminal, civil and juvenile 
cases are all now eligible for oral trials, he observed. 
Ironically, the strongest remaining source of resistance to oral 
trials, Mancillas declared, comes from established attorneys who 
do not want to invest time in learning a new, more modern way of 
doing business. 
 
 
 
Application to Serious Crimes Carefully Examined 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
 
 
 
MONTERREY 00000354  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Mancillas emphasized that authorities are carefully 
scrutinizing the methodology for using oral trials in cases 
involving crimes with a high societal impact such as kidnapping 
and murder.  He feared that organized crime figures would find 
loopholes that could allow them to be released without a 
verdict.  (Note:  Human rights groups have criticized a 
provision in the federal transition to oral trails known as 
"arraigo" which allows organized crime suspects to be detained 
for as long as 80 days without formal charges.  End note.) 
 
 
 
Judges at Risk? 
 
--------------- 
 
 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The Ambassador pointed out that under the oral trial 
system, judges are now visible and could be put at risk.  UANL 
Law School Director Prado agreed and emphasized the importance 
of protecting judges under the new system, using Colombia and 
Italy as examples where judges have been murdered.  He said the 
use of "faceless" judges is still being debated in Mexico, 
adding that many believe defendants have the right to know who 
is judging the case. 
 
 
 
Training Key to Success 
 
----------------------- 
 
 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Positive change is always difficult, the Ambassador 
noted, especially when going from a system where influence can 
be bought to a more open regime.  Prado agreed and opined that 
resistance would fade if attorneys understood the new system 
completely.  He said that the new UANL law school syllabus 
includes a course on ethics and corruption.  Mancillas 
underlined the importance of investment in the training of 
attorneys and police.  He declared that attorneys have to be 
specialized in oral trials.  To that end, he pointed to graduate 
studies programs in oral trials and explained that the state 
will pay 50 percent of the cost of educational fees for students 
making oral trials their focus. 
 
 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Prado observed that three oral trials, viewed via CCTV 
by over 800 law students, have taken place thus far on the UANL 
campus.  The federally funded trial room and remote viewing 
program are part of the GoM effort to transition students from 
written to oral trial procedures.  (Note:  A similar program is 
likely to open in a few months at cross-town rival Monterey Tech 
Law School; the Monterrey Tech effort is being supported by 
USAID.  (Note:  The USG has been involved in the implementation 
of the oral trial process from the beginning.  Consulate staff, 
U.S. law enforcement personnel, and USAID justice reform 
projects have played a significant role in training Nuevo Leon 
justice officials, police, and laboratory technicians.  End 
note.) 
 
 
 
Comment 
 
------- 
 
 
 
¶10.  (SBU) The 2008 constitutional change mandating oral trials 
has given additional legitimacy to Nuevo Leon's drive to convert 
its legal system from written to oral trial proceedings. 
Although the change has encountered resistance from some 
entrenched groups in the state, it has continually gained steam 
and has official support that should ensure it is successful 
here.  Many have come to see the benefit of substituting the 
presumption of innocence for that of guilt (as in the written 
trial system) and the value of a more transparent adjudication 
system.  Still, given Mexico's ongoing security challenges and 
corruption permissive culture, the oral trial system faces the 
same challenges to its integrity as the one that it replaces. 
 
 
MONTERREY 00000354  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Successful implementation of the oral trial system 
nationwide will also depend on GoM action to firmly delineate 
jurisdiction over many organized crime cases.  For example, in 
Nuevo Leon, the federal prosecutor's office (PGR) often takes 
control of large scale cases, especially those arrests which 
involve military action.  The state prosecutor's office (PGJ) 
tries to hold onto some cases that involve state police arrests, 
but overall appears to avoid high-profile organized crime cases. 
 End comment. 
 
 
 
Human Rights 
 
------------ 
 
 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Finally, Ambassador queried our Nuevo Leon 
interlocutors as to whether they worried that the military's 
involvement in the struggle against the cartels would eventually 
lead to human rights abuses that would tarnish that 
institution's image.  Attorney General Trevino replied that as a 
lawyer he was well aware of the need to respect the rule of law, 
but that the reality was that organized crime represented the 
biggest threat to human rights.  In making recent arrests of 
traffickers and suspect policemen, detentions which occurred 
with the support of local army units, the state had done its 
best to strike a balance between public security and detainee 
rights. 
GRANDFIELDM