Article 20 Political Constitution of the United Mexican States

The criminal proceeding shall be accusatory and oral. It shall be governed by the principles of publicity, contradiction, concentration, continuity and immediacy.

A.On the general principles:

I.The criminal proceeding shall have as its object the clarification of the facts, the protection of the innocent, ensuring that the guilty does not remain unpunished and that the damages caused by the crime be repaired;

II.Every hearing shall be conducted in the presence of the judge, who may not delegate to any person the taking and the evaluation of the evidence, which shall be carried out freely and logically;

III.For the purposes of the judgment (sentencia) only that evidence which has been taken at the trial hearing shall be considered as evidence. The law shall establish the exceptions and the requirements for admitting at trial evidence taken in advance, which by its nature requires prior taking;

IV.The trial shall be held before a judge who has not previously known the case. The presentation of the arguments and the evidentiary elements shall be conducted publicly, contradictorily and orally;

V.The burden of proof to demonstrate guilt corresponds to the accusing party, in accordance with the definition of the crime. The parties shall have procedural equality to sustain the accusation or the defense, respectively;

VI.No adjudicator may deal with matters that are subject to proceeding with any of the parties without the other being present, respecting at all times the principle of contradiction, except for the exceptions established by this Constitution;

VII.Once the criminal proceeding has begun, provided that there is no opposition from the accused, its early termination may be decreed in the cases and under the modalities determined by law. If the accused acknowledges before the judicial authority, voluntarily and with knowledge of the consequences, his participation in the crime and there are sufficient means of conviction to corroborate the imputation, the judge shall summon a sentencing hearing. The law shall establish the benefits that may be granted to the accused when he accepts his responsibility;

VIII.The judge shall only convict when there is conviction of the guilt of the person prosecuted;

IX.Any evidence obtained in violation of fundamental rights shall be null;

X.In the case of organized crime, the judicial administration organ may order the necessary measures to preserve the security and safeguard the identity of the adjudicating persons, in accordance with the procedure established by law, and

XI.The principles provided for in this article shall also be observed in the hearings preliminary to the trial.

B.On the rights of every accused person:

I.To be presumed innocent until his responsibility is declared by means of a judgment (sentencia) issued by the judge of the case;

II.To declare or to remain silent. From the moment of his detention he shall be informed of the reasons for it and of his right to remain silent, which may not be used to his detriment. All incommunicado detention, intimidation or torture is prohibited and shall be sanctioned by the criminal law. The confession made without the assistance of counsel shall lack all evidentiary value;

III.To be informed, both at the moment of his detention and at his appearance before the Public Prosecutor's Office (Ministerio Público) or the judge, of the facts imputed to him and of the rights that assist him. In the case of organized crime, the judicial authority may authorize that the name and data of the accuser be kept in reserve.

The law shall establish benefits in favor of the accused, person prosecuted or sentenced person who provides effective help for the investigation and prosecution of crimes in matters of organized crime;

IV.The witnesses and other pertinent evidence that he offers shall be received, granting him the time that the law deems necessary for that purpose and assisting him to obtain the appearance of the persons whose testimony he requests, in the terms indicated by law;

V.He shall be judged in a public hearing by a judge or court. Publicity may only be restricted in the exceptional cases determined by law, for reasons of national security, public security, protection of the victims, witnesses and minors, when the revelation of legally protected data is put at risk, or when the court deems that there are founded reasons to justify it.

In organized crime, the proceedings carried out in the investigation phase may have evidentiary value, when they cannot be reproduced at trial or there is a risk for witnesses or victims. The foregoing without prejudice to the right of the accused to object to or challenge them and to provide evidence against them;

VI.All the data that he requests for his defense and that is contained in the proceeding shall be provided to him.

The accused and his counsel shall have access to the records of the investigation when the former is detained and when it is intended to take his statement or interview him. Likewise, before his first appearance before the judge they may consult said records, with the due opportunity to prepare the defense. From this moment the proceedings of the investigation may not be kept in reserve, except in the exceptional cases expressly indicated in the law when this is indispensable to safeguard the success of the investigation and provided that they are timely revealed so as not to affect the right of defense;

VII.He shall be judged before four months if it concerns crimes whose maximum penalty does not exceed two years of imprisonment, and before one year if the penalty exceeds that time, unless he requests a longer term for his defense;

If the term indicated in the preceding paragraph is met and no judgment (sentencia) has been issued, the jurisdictional organ that knows of the matter shall give immediate notice to the Judicial Discipline Tribunal (Tribunal de Disciplina Judicial) and justify the reasons for said delay, in the terms established by law;

VIII.He shall have the right to an adequate defense by counsel, whom he shall choose freely even from the moment of his detention. If he does not want or cannot appoint counsel, after having been required to do so, the judge shall appoint a public defender for him. He shall also have the right for his defender to appear in all the acts of the proceeding and the latter shall be obliged to do so as many times as he is required, and

IX.In no case may the imprisonment or detention be prolonged, for failure to pay the fees of defenders or for any other payment of money, for reasons of civil liability or any other analogous motive.

Preventive imprisonment may not exceed the time that the law fixes as the maximum penalty for the crime that gave rise to the proceeding and in no case shall it be greater than two years, unless its prolongation is due to the exercise of the right of defense of the accused. If upon completion of this term no judgment (sentencia) has been pronounced, the accused shall be placed at liberty immediately while the proceeding continues, without this preventing the imposition of other precautionary measures.

In every prison sentence imposed by a judgment (sentencia), the time of the detention shall be counted.

C.On the rights of the victim or of the offended party:

I.To receive legal advice; to be informed of the rights that the Constitution establishes in his favor and, when he requests it, to be informed of the development of the criminal procedure;

II.To collaborate with the Public Prosecutor's Office (Ministerio Público); to have all the data or evidentiary elements in his possession received, both in the investigation and in the proceeding, to have the corresponding proceedings carried out, and to intervene in the trial and file the appeals in the terms provided by law.

When the Public Prosecutor's Office (Ministerio Público) considers that the carrying out of the proceeding is not necessary, it shall state the grounds and reasons for its refusal;

III.To receive, from the commission of the crime, urgent medical and psychological care;

IV.To have the damage repaired. In the cases in which it is appropriate, the Public Prosecutor's Office (Ministerio Público) shall be obliged to request the reparation of damage, without prejudice to the fact that the victim or offended party may request it directly, and the adjudicator may not absolve the sentenced person from said reparation if he has issued a convicting judgment (sentencia).

The law shall establish agile procedures to execute the judgments (sentencias) in matters of reparation of damage;

V.To the safeguarding of his identity and other personal data in the following cases: when they are minors; when it concerns crimes of rape, human trafficking, kidnapping or organized crime; and when in the judgment of the adjudicator it is necessary for his protection, safeguarding in all cases the rights of the defense.

The Public Prosecutor's Office (Ministerio Público) shall guarantee the protection of victims, offended parties, witnesses and in general all the subjects that intervene in the proceeding. The judges shall supervise the proper fulfillment of this obligation;

VI.To request the precautionary measures and the necessary provisions for the protection and restitution of his rights, and

VII.To challenge before a judicial authority the omissions of the Public Prosecutor's Office (Ministerio Público) in the investigation of the crimes, as well as the resolutions of reserve, non-exercise, withdrawal of the criminal action or suspension of the procedure when the reparation of damage is not satisfied.