Restorative Justice Warmly Received in Mexico

Source: (1999) ADR Report. September 1999.

The process of mediation is relatively new in Mexico and the term restorative justice was virtually unheard of until recently. The Mexican criminal justice system is even more punitive than the systems of the United States and Canada. But some Mexican visionaries imagined that there must be better ways to deal with conflict and crime. This summer’s initiative was spearheaded by Dr. Jorge Pesqueira, a law professor at the University of Sonora and president of the Instituto de Mediacion de Mexico, along with Sr. Sergio Herrera Trejo, the president of the Tribunal Superior de Mexico (the Supreme Court.) They conceived a five-week training course (60 hours per week) for justices, judges, prosecutors, lawyers and psychologists from every state in Mexico.