Judicial Corruption in the Mexican Federal Judiciary

This article sheds light on the problem of judicial corruption in Mexico in the federal judicial (MFJ) system. Like any other topic that is socially stigmatized, corruption is extremely difficult to study and research. Using ethnographic methods, the author interviewed forty-five individuals who were working for or studying the federal courtrooms in six different cities in Challenging conventional assumptions of judicial corruption in Mexico, this research reveals that the federal judiciary is not as corrupt as thought by Mexican and American societies. Corruption does exist, but it is not frequent, and extensive and court employees categorize the problem in multifaceted ways, always emphasizing the legal aspect. Issues such as nepotism, cronyism, and influence peddling, although present, are not always defined as corruption. Possible strategies to reduce corruption are the prosecution of wrongdoers to the fullest extent of the law to create a deterrent effect, open and comprehensive discussion of internal corruption to educate MFJ employees, the creation of outlets to report corruption anonymously, incentives for whistleblowers, and complete accountability and transparency within the upper echelons of the institution.