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Media Contacts: The conference, Reforming the Administration of Justice in Mexico, will feature panel discussions as well as addresses by numerous high-profile officials, including Mexican Attorney General Rafael Macedo; Mexican Secretary of Public Security Alejandro Gertz; Mexico City Police Chief Marcelo Ebrard; and Mexican Northern Border Affairs Commissioner Ernesto Ruffo. The conference will begin with a public presentation by drug trafficking and immigration expert Peter Andreas of Brown University, on “The Tale of Two Borders: The U.S.-Mexico and U.S-Canada Lines after 9-11.” Andreas’s talk will take place from 3-5 p.m. at the Copley Conference Center in the Institute of the Americas Complex at UCSD. Panelists’ presentations on Friday and Saturday (May 16-17), will focus on five critical areas: indicators of crime and criminality; law enforcement and public security; judicial reform and legal professionals; citizen access and oversight; and U.S.-Mexican law enforcement and security. The overriding focus of the conference—reforming Mexico’s historically corrupt and inefficient justice system—is one that is key to strengthening democracy in Mexico. An effective justice system – one that emphasizes strong preventive institutions, equitable access to justice, and government responsiveness to citizen needs for security and attention to other social problems related to crime – is a basic prerequisite for a functioning democracy. Yet rising incidences of crime and violence, multiple forms of corruption, and widespread impunity and abuse of power have combined to constitute a veritable crisis of insecurity in Mexico and have eroded public confidence in the state’s ability to adequately resolve these problems. The Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies’ Project on Reforming the Administration of Justice in Mexico promotes analysis, dialogue, and policy solutions to address a variety of urgent problems related to public security and the rule of law in Mexico and the U.S.-Mexican border region. The Project involves the collaboration of dozens of academics, policy practitioners, government officials, and other key experts analyzing policy alternatives for the reform of Mexico's justice system. The Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, now in its twenty-fourth year of operation at UCSD, generates, supports and disseminates cutting-edge social sciences research on Mexico, Mexicans living in the United States, and U.S.-Mexican relations. The Center is also dedicated to actively promoting greater institutionalization, capacity-building and collaboration between U.S. and Mexican academic, government, and nongovernmental organizations while utilizing new technologies and training programs to facilitate interactive research and promote professional development, particularly in Mexican institutions. For more information about the conference, contact Erik Lee, Assistant Director, Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, UCSD at (858) 822-0056. For the general public, the
cost to attend the entire conference, including panel discussions and
meals, is $250.00 per person (law enforcement personnel and the news media
receive a discounted rate of $150.00. The student full-access rate is
$125.). Members of the news media are invited to cover the keynote talks
free of charge. |
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