TITLE ONE

CHAPTER I
Fundamental rights

Article 14

No law will have retroactive effect.

No one can be deprived of his freedom, properties or rights without a fair trial before previously established courts, complying with the essential formalities of the proceedings and according to those laws issued beforehand.

With regard to criminal trials, it is forbidden to impose any penalty which has not been expressly decreed by a law applicable to the crime in question, arguing mere analogy or majority of reason.
In civil trials, final sentence must agree the law writing or the legal interpretation thereof. In the case of lack of the appropriate law, sentence must be based on the general principles of law.

TITLE ONE

CHAPTER I
Fundamental rights

Article 17

Nobody can take justice into their own hands, nor have resort to violence to enforce his rights.

All people have the right to enjoy justice before the courts and under the terms and conditions set forth by the laws. The courts shall issue their rulings in a prompt, complete and impartial manner. Court’s services shall be free, judicial fees are prohibited.

TITLE ONE

CHAPTER I
Fundamental rights

Article 17

Oral proceedings shall end with a sentence, which shall be explained in a public hearing before the parties.

Federal and local laws shall provide the necessary means to guarantee the independence of the courts and the full enforcement of their rulings.

The Federation, the states and the Federal District must have a good public defender office and shall provide the conditions for a professional career service for the defenders. The defenders’ fees shall not be inferior to the public prosecutors’ fees.

TITLE ONE

CHAPTER I
Fundamental rights

Article 20

Criminal proceedings will be accusatory and oral. It shall be ruled by the principles of open trial, contradiction, concentration, continuity and contiguity.

A. General principles:

I. Criminal proceedings shall aim elucidation of the facts, innocent person’s protection, preventing impunity and redress.

II. In every hearing, a judge must be present. The judge cannot delegate to somebody else the submission and evaluation of evidence, which shall be done in a free and logic manner.

III. Only the evidence submitted in the hearing shall be used for the sentence. The law shall establish the exceptions for the above and the pertinent requirements.

IV. The trial shall be carried out before a judge who has not previously handled the case. All arguments and evidence shall be presented in a public, contradictory and oral manner.

V. The accuser must provide the evidence necessary to demonstrate defendant’s guilt. Both parties
are equal during the proceeding.

VI. No judge can talk about the trial with one of the parties without the presence of the other one, taking always into account the principle of contradiction, except for the cases predicted by this Constitution.

VII. Criminal proceeding can be terminated in advance, provided that the defendant agrees and according to the law. If the defendant, voluntarily and aware of the consequences, acknowledges his guilt and there is enough evidence to corroborate the charges, the judge shall call to a sentence hearing. The law shall establish the benefits granted to the defendant in case he accepts his guilt.

VIII. The judge shall convict only when the guilt of accused is certain.

IX. Any evidence obtained by violating the defendant’s fundamental rights shall be null and void.

X. These principles shall be observed also in the preliminary hearings.


B. Defendant’s rights

I. The defendant is innocent until proven guilty through a sentence issued by a judge.

II. Accused has the right to keep silent. From the moment of his arrest, the defendant shall be informed about the charges against him and his right to keep silent, which cannot be used against him.

All forms of intimidation, torture and lack of communication are forbidden and shall be punished by the law. Any confession made without the assistance of a defender shall have no weight as evidence.

III. Every arrested person has the right to be informed of the grounds of arrest and of his rights at the moment of his arrest and while appearing before the Public Prosecution Service or a judge. In the case of organized crimes, the judicial authority can authorize to keep the accuser’s name in secret.

The law shall establish benefits for the accused or convicted person who provides effective assistance in the investigation of felonies related to organized crime.

IV. All witnesses and any other evidence submitted by the defendant shall be admitted within the term established by law. Judicial authority shall assist defendant to enforce appearance of those witnesses whose testimony he may request, in the terms set forth by the law.

V. Defendant shall be judged in an open trial by a judge or court. This provision may be restricted for reasons related to national security, public safety, protection of victims, witnesses and minors, disclosure of legally protected data or when the court considers that it is justified to do so.
In the case of organized crime, all acts performed during the investigation shall serve as evidence when they cannot be reproduced during the trial or there is a risk for witnesses or victims. The accused has the right to object or contest such evidence.

VI. The defendant has the right to be provided with all the information on record in the proceeding for his defense.

The accused and his counsel can access to the investigation records: a) when the accused is under arrest, b) when he makes his statement or is interviewed, c) before the first hearing. Once the first hearing has been carried out, information on investigation cannot be kept in secret, except for exceptional cases determined by the law, whenever that is imperative to ensure the success of the investigation and provided that they are revealed in time to safeguard defendant’s rights.

VII. Accused shall be tried within a term of four months in the case of crimes punishable with a maximum penalty of two years of imprisonment; and within a term of one year if the crime is punishable with a penalty exceeding such term, unless he requests a longer term to prepare his defense.

VIII. Defendant has the right to a lawyer, whom he shall freely choose even from the moment of his arrest. If he does not want a lawyer or cannot appoint one, the judge shall appoint a public defender. Defendant’s lawyer is obliged to appear in all the acts related to defendant’s proceeding.

IX. Prison or arrest cannot be extended due to the lack of money to pay lawyer’s fees or any other monetary cause, civil liability or any other similar motive.

Preventive prison cannot exceed the time established by law as maximum punishment for the crime in question. In no case, preventive prison shall exceed the term of two years, unless defendant asks for a longer time to prepare his defense. If after said term a sentence has not been pronounced, the defendant shall be freed immediately while the trial continues. However, other precautionary measures may be used.

The duration of detention counts for a sentence term.


C. Victim’s rights:

I. The victim has the right to be informed about his rights and, whenever he should so require it, to be informed about the state of the criminal proceedings.

II. The Public Prosecution Service must received all the evidence submitted by the victim during the preliminary criminal inquiry as well as during proceedings. The Public Prosecution Service must carry out the necessary steps to assists the victim. The victim has the right to intervene in the trial and to use the legal instruments according to the law.

Whenever the Public Prosecution Service does not consider necessary to carry out the steps required by the victim, he must state the grounds of law and fact justifying his refusal.

III. The victim has the right to receive urgent medical and psychological assistance from the moment the crime was committed.

IV. The victim has the right to redress. Whenever it should be legally admissible, the Public Prosecution Service is obliged to require redress. The victim also can request such redress by himself.

The judge cannot acquit the convict of redress in the case of conviction.

The law shall set forth agile procedures to enforce redress sentences.
(Reformed by the decree published on July 14, 2011)

V. The judge must keep in secret victim’s identity and other personal data in the following cases: minor involved; rape, trafficking in persons, kidnap, organized crime; and when necessary to protect the victim, always respecting the defendant’s rights.

The Public Prosecution Service shall ensure the protection of victims, offended parties, witnesses and all others who take part in the trial. The judges are obliged to oversee proper compliance with this obligation.

VI. The victim can request the necessary precautionary measures to protect his rights.

VII. The victim can contest, before the judicial authority, the Public Prosecution Service’s omissions in the criminal investigation, as well as the resolutions with reservation, lack of exercising, abandonment of criminal prosecution or proceeding suspension when redress has not been completed.

Article 55
Rights of persons during an investigation
1. In respect of an investigation under this Statute, a person:
(a) Shall not be compelled to incriminate himself or herself or to confess guilt;
(b) Shall not be subjected to any form of coercion, duress or threat, to torture or to any other form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;
(c) Shall, if questioned in a language other than a language the person fully understands and speaks, have, free of any cost, the assistance of a competent interpreter and such translations as are necessary to meet the requirements of fairness; and
(d) Shall not be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention, and shall not be deprived of his or her liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedures as are established in this Statute.
2. Where there are grounds to believe that a person has committed a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court and that person is about to be questioned either by the Prosecutor, or by national authorities pursuant to a request made under Part 9, that person shall also have the following rights of which he or she shall be informed prior to being questioned:
(a) To be informed, prior to being questioned, that there are grounds to believe that he or she has committed a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court;
(b) To remain silent, without such silence being a consideration in the determination of guilt or innocence;
(c) To have legal assistance of the person's choosing, or, if the person does not have legal assistance, to have legal assistance assigned to him or her, in any case where the interests of justice so require, and without payment by the person in any such case if the person does not have sufficient means to pay for it; and
(d) To be questioned in the presence of counsel unless the person has voluntarily waived his or her right to counsel.

Article 63
Trial in the presence of the accused
1. The accused shall be present during the trial.
2. If the accused, being present before the Court, continues to disrupt the trial, the Trial Chamber may remove the accused and shall make provision for him or her to observe the trial and instruct counsel from outside the courtroom, through the use of communications technology, if required. Such measures shall be taken only in exceptional circumstances after other reasonable alternatives have proved inadequate, and only for such duration as is strictly required.

Article 66
Presumption of innocence
1. Everyone shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty before the Court in accordance with the applicable law.
2. The onus is on the Prosecutor to prove the guilt of the accused.
3. In order to convict the accused, the Court must be convinced of the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt.

Article 67
Rights of the accused
1. In the determination of any charge, the accused shall be entitled to a public hearing, having regard to the provisions of this Statute, to a fair hearing conducted impartially, and to the following minimum guarantees, in full equality:
(a) To be informed promptly and in detail of the nature, cause and content of the charge, in a language which the accused fully understands and speaks;
(b) To have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of the defence and to communicate freely with counsel of the accused's choosing in confidence;
(c) To be tried without undue delay;
(d) Subject to article 63, paragraph 2, to be present at the trial, to conduct the defence in person or through legal assistance of the accused's choosing, to be informed, if the accused does not have legal assistance, of this right and to have legal assistance assigned by the Court in any case where the interests of justice so require, and without payment if the accused lacks sufficient means to pay for it;
(e) To examine, or have examined, the witnesses against him or her and to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on his or her behalf under the same conditions as witnesses against him or her. The accused shall also be entitled to raise defences and to present other evidence admissible under this Statute;
(f) To have, free of any cost, the assistance of a competent interpreter and such translations as are necessary to meet the requirements of fairness, if any of the proceedings of or documents presented to the Court are not in a language which the accused fully understands and speaks;
(g) Not to be compelled to testify or to confess guilt and to remain silent, without such silence being a consideration in the determination of guilt or innocence;
(h) To make an unsworn oral or written statement in his or her defence; and
(i) Not to have imposed on him or her any reversal of the burden of proof or any onus of rebuttal.
2. In addition to any other disclosure provided for in this Statute, the Prosecutor shall, as soon as practicable, disclose to the defence evidence in the Prosecutor's possession or control which he or she believes shows or tends to show the innocence of the accused, or to mitigate the guilt of the accused, or which may affect the credibility of prosecution evidence. In case of doubt as to the application of this paragraph, the Court shall decide.