The legal flaws and material implementation gaps of Mexico's rehabilitation paradigm

Abstract

In 2008, through a reform of the constitution, Mexico's criminal justice system underwent a major change when it transitioned from an inquisitorial to an adversarial model. This reform unchained a series of subsequent conceptual and legal changes which include the design and implementation of alternatives to incarceration during trial and after sentencing; the creation of national legal settings (as opposed to federal and state norms), and the incorporation of a new paradigm on rehabilitation that moves from the concept of readaptación-readaptation-to reinserción social-to social rehabilitation. Mexico's navigation towards a fairer criminal justice system, however, is full of inherent legal and material flaws and inconsistencies. Through a normative analysis that draws on a case study of an indigenous formerly incarcerated woman, sentenced to ten years for drug trafficking, this chapter shows the legal and implementation gaps with regard to mainstreaming gender and interculturality, and how current legal barriers to rehabilitation hinder people's reinstating to full citizenship.