PROJUST FOR USAID PROMOTING JUSTICE PROJECT QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT January 1 – March 31, 2019 USAID/MEXICO PROMOTING JUSTICE PROJECT QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT JANUARY 1 – MARCH 31, 2019 Management Systems International Corporate Offices 200 12th Street, South Arlington, VA 22202 USA Tel: + 1 703 979 7100 Contracted under AID-523-C-14-00003 USAID/Mexico Promoting Justice Project Cover page photo caption: Local leaders from the states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Baja California, Nuevo Leon, Tabasco and Zacatecas participate in roundtable discussions of strategies to sustain and scale the positive results of local systems initiatives at a National Leaders Meeting hosted by PROJUST in Zacatecas on February 12, 2019. DISCLAIMER This publication was produced at the request of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It was prepared independently by Management Systems International. The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the USAID or the United States Government. CONTENTS ACRONYMS III EXECUTIVE SUMMARY IV ACTIVITY IMPLEMENTATION AND COVERAGE 6 ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND OVERALL STATUS 6 IMPLEMENTED A LOCAL SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR GREATER IMPACT 7 CAPABLE JUSTICE SECTOR INSTITUTIONS 9 GROUNDED REFORMS IN THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK 9 COMBATTED IMPUNITY THROUGH MORE EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE PROSECUTIONS 11 INCREASED THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PUBLIC DEFENSE 23 REDUCING THE USE OF PRE-TRIAL DETENTION 26 INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY-BUILDING 29 FOSTERED A MONITORING AND EVALUATION (M&E) CULTURE IN MEXICO’S JUSTICE INSTITUTIONS 31 NATIONAL LEVEL SUPPORT 35 GENERAL AND CROSS-CUTTING ACTIVITIES 37 PROBLEMS, DELAYS, AND LESSONS LEARNED 42 UPDATES ON EVALUATION AND LEARNING PLANS AND ACTIVITIES 44 ANNEX I: ACTIVITY COUNT AND SUPPORT COVERAGE 46 ANNEX II: EARLY WINS AND SPOTLIGHTS OF Q2 47 ANNEX III: SUCCESS STORY FOR Q2 57 ANNEX IV: COMPLETE TABLE OF RESULTS FOR COAHUILA’S JUDICIAL COMMITTEE 59 ANNEX V: SAMPLE INFOGRAPHICS OF RESULTS FROM 100-DAY CHALLENGES 60 ANNEX VI: FINANCIAL SECTION 66 ANNEX VII: ANALYSIS OF TRAINING DATA 67 i | USAID/MEXICO PROMOTING JUSTICE PROJECT USAID.GOV QUARTERLY REPORT, JANUARY – MARCH 2019 ii | USAID/MEXICO PROMOTING JUSTICE PROJECT USAID.GOV QUARTERLY REPORT, JANUARY – MARCH 2019 ACRONYMS AG Attorney General CONATRIB National Commission of Superior Justice Tribunals CSO Civil Society Organization CSU Case Screening Unit FUNDAR Research Center FUNDAR FY Fiscal Year IMDHD Mexican Institute for Human Rights and Democracy IT Information Technology JSI Justice Sector Institution MSI Management Systems International M&E Monitoring and Evaluation PD Public Defender PROJUST Promoting Justice Project PTS Pre-Trial Services Q1 Quarter 1 Q2 Quarter 2 RRI Rapid Results Institute SSP State Secretariat of Public Security ToT Training of Trainers UID Investigative Unit for Cases with Unknown Suspects USAID United States Agency for International Development iii | USAID/MEXICO PROMOTING JUSTICE PROJECT USAID.GOV QUARTERLY REPORT, JANUARY – MARCH 2019 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The USAID/Mexico Promoting Justice Project (PROJUST) is in its fifth and final year of implementation with project activities focused on the consolidation and sustainability of best practices and project experience strengthening local justice systems across target Mexican states. This quarterly report covers the period from January 1 to March 31, 2019, which corresponds to the second quarter (Q2) of Fiscal Year (FY) 2019. It highlights the achievements and activities of Tasks 1 and 2, which are implemented by Management Systems International (MSI). In Q2, PROJUST continued to support the consolidation of the criminal justice system via direct support for improved performance for individual operators, justice sector institutions, and local justice systems. Seven target cities have made progress towards sustaining the gains of their successful local initiatives to combat impunity while leaders have been engaged in high-level discussions of a shared vision for the future. As targeted support within each principal justice institution winds down, important strides were made to ensure that valuable resources are widely distributed and to establish peer-to-peer learning networks between justice operators across target states. Regulatory and legislative reform at the state level has bolstered the staying power of PROJUST support for improved management by institutionalizing key units and operational models, while national level support has reinforced important civil society networks that can now rely on increased communication and collaboration with government legislators and a clear path forward on pending lines of action. Finally, PROJUST-supported Monitoring & Evaluation Units, Gender Units, and Pre-Trial Services Units were given targeted technical assistance as they reached new levels of maturation and made contributions to overall improvements in efficiency, respect for human rights, and protection of due process. Meanwhile, further progress was seen in PROJUST’s ongoing work to legitimize the accusatory criminal justice system through capable institutions. Full details and context of progress and outcomes are provided in the body of this report, with key highlights summarized blow. A new way forward for professional development in Public Defenders’ Offices PROJUST successfully designed and implemented an innovate approach to training public defenders (PD). In this 12-week program, one-on-one coaching was paired with self-paced, online training to improve the performance of a targeted cohort of 60 PDs from six PD Offices across five target states. This program has served as a valuable pilot for PROJUST to explore flexible training programs that can be easily integrated into the daily work of PDs to enhance rather than interrupt their existing workloads. Bolstering national civil society support to halt a reform to expand the catalogue of crimes requiring mandatory pre-trial detention PROJUST has worked directly with civil society organizations (CSOs) to rally broad-based opposition and devise strategies to advocate against a harmful counter-reform proposal that jeopardizes basic principles of the accusatory system. On January 15, 2019, the CSO network #JusticiaSinPretextos held a press conference with PROJUST support at the Chamber of Deputies to push for the postponement of the majority vote on the proposal to allow more time to discuss the opposition’s stance with additional legislators and prepare a counter proposal. As a direct result, three days of public working sessions were held by Congress over February 6-8, 2019, through an “open government” format for legislators to jointly analyze the reform proposal and reach sound conclusions. Despite strong opposition by international organizations, criminal justice experts and engaged civil society, Congress approved the expansion of the catalogue of crimes requiring mandatory pre-trial detention on February 19, and on March 4, PROJUST accompanied CSOs to attend a meeting with the United Nations’ Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Mexico to discuss further options for international iv | USAID/MEXICO PROMOTING JUSTICE PROJECT USAID.GOV QUARTERLY REPORT, JANUARY – MARCH 2019 support. PROJUST will continue to support CSOs and the National Commission for Human Rights in this endeavor. Leveling-up crime analysis in Mexico PROJUST organized a forum on “Crime Analysis: Prevention and Investigation of Crimes” in Mexico City on February 21 and 22, 2019, that drew over 100 attendees from across 13 Mexican states. Participants were predominately from the public sector and included analysts, police officers and prosecutors. With seven seminars from Chilean, Colombian and Mexican experts and three roundtable discussions, the forum addressed key learnings and challenges from each country’s experiences while supporting a growing community of Mexican justice operators supporting each other in improved crime analysis. Increasing the use of plea bargains PROJUST facilitated working sessions over February 25 and 26, 2019, with representatives from the Attorneys General (AG) Offices of Baja California, Coahuila, Nayarit and Zacatecas to discuss and reflect upon the major challenges towards increasing the use of this mechanism in each state while also sharing best practices. After much deliberation and as a successful end to the working sessions, the group agreed upon a list of standardized and objective minimum criteria to determine whether a plea bargain is an appropriate solution to a given case, and an outline of an ideal authorization process for plea bargains. Directors from Public Defender’s Offices hone managerial skills at Regional Forum Between March 19 and 22, 2019, PROJUST facilitated working sessions with over 30 directors and managers from six target states. PROJUST leveraged international expertise in PD Office operations by inviting three experts from Chile’s Federal PD Office, recognized as the most advanced in Latin America. This gathering centered around developing managerial, leadership and strategic planning skills with these participants toward improved operations and the provision of quality services to users. This event also served as a space to transfer the Catalog of Case Assessment Criteria, a key tool developed by PROJUST in conjunction with these target PD offices. Encouraging inter-state alliances to increase prosecution of Homicides PROJUST-supported Crime Analysis and Specialized Investigation and Prosecution Units for Homicides within target