The Merida Initiative is an unprecedented partnership between the United States and Mexico to fight organized crime and associated violence while furthering respect for human rights and the rule of law.

Mexican state AGOs are experiencing tremendous difficulty as they transition from a modified

credit:

form of the inquisitorial system to an accusatorial criminal justice system.

AGOs lack clear criminal prosecutorial priorities, supporting performance evaluation plans, performance monitoring systems, and incentives aligned with a personnel monitoring and evaluation plan.

While INL will continue to work to improve the litigation skills of AGO personnel, no level of litigation skill will lead to increased prosecutions if current caseload and resource management practices persist in Mexican state AGOs.

Thus the need to provide technical assistance to ensure Mexican state AGOs have the necessary evaluation systems and procedures in place that align with the institution’s criminal prosecutorial priorities.