Article 21 Political Constitution of the United Mexican States

The investigation of the crimes corresponds to the Public Prosecutor's Office (Ministerio Público), to the secretariat of the public security branch of the Federal Executive, to the National Guard (Guardia Nacional) and to the police, within the scope of their competence, which shall act under the conduction and command of the former in the exercise of this function.

The exercise of the criminal action before the courts corresponds to the Public Prosecutor's Office (Ministerio Público). The law shall determine the cases in which private individuals may exercise the criminal action before the judicial authority.

The imposition of the penalties, their modification and duration are proper and exclusive of the judicial authority.

The administrative authority is competent for the application of sanctions for the infractions of the governmental and police regulations, which shall only consist of fine, arrest for up to thirty-six hours or work in favor of the community; but if the offender does not pay the fine that has been imposed on him, this shall be commuted for the corresponding arrest, which shall in no case exceed thirty-six hours.

If the offender of the governmental and police regulations is a day laborer, worker or employee, he may not be sanctioned with a fine greater than the amount of his daily wage or salary.

In the case of non-salaried employees, the fine imposed for infraction of the governmental and police regulations shall not exceed the equivalent of one day of their income.

The Public Prosecutor's Office (Ministerio Público) may consider criteria of opportunity for the exercise of the criminal action, in the cases and conditions fixed by law.

The Federal Executive may, with the approval of the Senate in each case, recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (Corte Penal Internacional).

Public security is a function of the State in charge of the Federation, the states (federal entities) and the Municipalities, whose purposes are to safeguard the life, the freedoms, the integrity and the patrimony of persons, in accordance with the provisions of Article 4 of this Constitution which guarantees the reinforced duties of protection of the State with women, adolescents, girls and boys; as well as to contribute to the generation and preservation of public order and social peace, in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution and the laws on the matter. Public security comprises the prevention, investigation and prosecution of the crimes, as well as the sanction of the administrative infractions, in the terms of the law, in the respective competences that this Constitution indicates. The action of the public security institutions shall be governed by the principles of legality, objectivity, efficiency, professionalism and honesty, as well as by the gender perspective and respect for the human rights recognized in this Constitution.

The public security institutions shall be disciplined, professional and of a civil character.

The Public Prosecutor's Office (Ministerio Público) and the police institutions of the three orders of government, including the National Guard, must coordinate among themselves to fulfill the purposes of public security and shall form the National Public Security System (Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Pública), which shall be subject to the following minimum bases:

a)The regulation of the selection, entry, training, permanence, evaluation, recognition and certification of the members of the public security institutions. The operation and development of these actions shall be the competence of the Federation, the states (federal entities) and the Municipalities within the scope of their respective attributions.

b)The establishment of a national system of information in public security in charge of the Federation, to which the latter, the states (federal entities) and the Municipalities, through the dependencies responsible for public security, shall provide the information they have on the matter, in accordance with the law. The system shall also contain the criminalistics and personnel databases for the public security institutions. No person may enter the public security institutions if he has not been duly certified and registered in the system.

c)The formulation of public policies tending to prevent the commission of crimes.

d)The participation of the community shall be determined, which shall collaborate, among others, in the processes of evaluation of the policies of crime prevention as well as of the public security institutions.

e)The federal aid funds for public security, at the national level, shall be contributed to the states (federal entities) and municipalities to be destined exclusively to these purposes. These funds shall be audited and their due exercise supervised by the System through its Executive Secretariat.

f)The System shall have an Executive Secretariat, which may broaden the bases, issue agreements and guidelines, as well as carry out the necessary actions to achieve the homologation of standards and criteria, as well as an efficient, transparent and responsible coordination, in the exercise of the concurrent attributions of the three orders of government; at all times in attention to the purposes of the System and the objectives of the National Public Security Strategy (Estrategia Nacional de Seguridad Pública).

The Federation shall have the National Guard, a force of public security, professional, of a permanent character and integrated by military personnel with police training, dependent on the secretariat of the national defense branch, to execute the National Public Security Strategy in the scope of its competence. The purposes of the National Guard are those indicated in the ninth paragraph of this article, the coordination and collaboration with the states (federal entities) and Municipalities, as well as the safeguarding of the goods and resources of the Nation. The law shall determine the organic and direction structure of the National Guard.

The secretariat of the public security branch shall formulate, coordinate and direct the National Public Security Strategy, as well as the respective programs, policies and actions; it shall assist the person holding the Presidency of the Republic in the exercise of the functions in matters of national security; the coordination of the National Intelligence System (Sistema Nacional de Inteligencia) in matters of public security shall correspond to it, in the terms indicated by law, and it may coordinate the actions of collaboration of the three orders of government, through the public security institutions, which must also provide the information they have or that they gather on the matter in accordance with the law. It may request information from the institutions and dependencies of the State for the identification and clarification of the facts presumably constituting crimes.

The training and the performance of the members of the National Guard and of the other police institutions shall be governed by a police doctrine founded on service to society, discipline, respect for human rights, for the rule of law, for superior command, and, insofar as applicable, for the gender perspective.