University Readers

This monograph includes works covering a wide range of topics relating to Mexico's justice system: effective enforcement of the law, government adherence to the law, and access to justice through law. Government accountability and transparency is the paramount theme in all these papers.

The contributing authors have addressed justice-reform issues such as political corruption, criminal impunity, and inefficient enforcement of the law that routinely challenge Mexican citizens on a daily basis. They have also attempted to promote the aims of greater accountability and transparency in Mexico.

This monograph is the first of three to be published by the Trans-Border Institute (TBI) of the University of San Diego. In 2005, it became the coordination institution for a multiyear "Justice in Mexico" project that is focused on the administration of justice and the rule of law in Mexico.

The project issued a call for papers to both American and Mexican scholars working on a range of topics related to justice-sector reform. The threefold rationale for the project is: (1) the need to decentralize analysis and reform efforts in Mexico; (2) the need for a greater emphasis on best practices; (3) and the need for U.S.-Mexican academic collaboration in the study of justice-sector challenges and reform. This publication of three monographs was made possible through the generous support of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.