Article 18 Political Constitution of the United Mexican States

Only for a crime that merits a penalty depriving of liberty shall there be place for preventive imprisonment. The site of this shall be distinct from that which is destined for the extinction of the penalties and they shall be completely separated.

The penitentiary system shall be organized on the basis of respect for human rights, of work, the training for the same, education, health and sport as means to achieve the reinsertion of the sentenced person into society and to procure that they do not commit crimes again, observing the benefits that for them the law provides. Women shall serve their penalties in places separate from those destined for men for such purpose.

The Federation and the states (federal entities) may conclude agreements so that the sentenced persons for crimes of the scope of their competence extinguish the penalties in penitentiary establishments dependent on a diverse jurisdiction.

The Federation and the states (federal entities) shall establish, in the scope of their respective competencies, a comprehensive system of justice for adolescents, which shall be applicable to those to whom the commission or participation in an act that the law indicates as a crime is attributed and who have between twelve years completed and less than eighteen years of age. This system shall guarantee the human rights that the Constitution recognizes for every person, as well as those specific rights that by their condition of persons in development have been recognized to adolescents. Persons under twelve years of age to whom it is attributed that they have committed or participated in an act that the law indicates as a crime may only be subjects of social assistance.

The operation of the system in each order of government shall be in charge of institutions, courts and authorities specialized in the procurement and imparting of justice for adolescents. The measures of orientation, protection and treatment that each case merits may be applied, attending to the comprehensive protection and the best interest of the adolescent.

The alternative forms of justice must be observed in the application of this system, as long as it results appropriate. The process in matters of justice for adolescents shall be accusatory and oral, in which the guarantee of legal due process shall be observed, as well as the independence of the authorities that carry out the referral and those that impose the measures. These must be proportional to the act carried out and shall have as their end the reinsertion and the social and family reintegration of the adolescent, as well as the full development of their person and capacities. The internment shall be used only as an extreme measure and for the briefest time that proceeds, and may be applied only to adolescents older than fourteen years of age, for the commission or participation in an act that the law indicates as a crime.

The sentenced persons of Mexican nationality who are found serving penalties in foreign countries may be transferred to the Republic so that they fulfill their sentences based on the systems of social reinsertion provided in this article, and the sentenced persons of foreign nationality for crimes of the federal order or of the immunity from prosecution, may be transferred to the country of their origin or residence, subjecting themselves to the International Treaties that have been concluded for that effect. The transfer of the prisoners may only be carried out with their express consent.

The sentenced persons, in the cases and conditions that the law establishes, may serve their penalties in the penitentiary centers closest to their domicile, in order to foster their reintegration into the community as a form of social reinsertion. This provision shall not apply in the case of organized crime and with respect to other inmates who require special measures of security.

For preventive imprisonment and the execution of sentences in matters of organized crime, special centers shall be destined. The competent authorities may restrict the communications of the accused and sentenced persons for organized crime with third parties, except the access to their defense counsel, and impose measures of special vigilance on those who are found inmates in these establishments. The foregoing may be applied to other inmates who require special measures of security, in terms of the law.