Mexico City – Interior Secretary Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong last week signed the "National Legislative Coordination Agreement for the Implementation of the Criminal Justice System."

Osorio Chong said that the agreement will work to harmonize federal and state-level legislation regarding the implementation of Mexico’s new adversarial justice system — modeled after the court system in former British colonies — a process which must be completed by 2016.

According to Osorio Chong, the implementation of the new system is designed to improve transparency in the judicial process and ensure justice for both victims and those accused of crimes.

He said many states have fallen behind in the implementation of the new criminal justice system and they need to catch up as quickly as possible.

"Justice delayed is justice denied," he said, adding that those that have not implemented the changes yet need to know that the federal government is there to help them.

Federal Attorney General Jesús Murillo Karam said that another task is to change the natural habits of those who administer justice in the nation.

"The objective of the new judicial system is for the citizens to not have their rights violated, to have a free and speedy trial, to regain trust in police and public ministers, and so that they are not arrested for an investigation, but that they be investigated to be arrested," Murillo Karam said.