Mexico
Corrections in Mexico
A dual prison system — federal centres and each state's own prisons — aimed at social reinsertion, and above capacity at the national level.
Facts on this page were checked against their sources on .
Prisons in Mexico are run at both levels: federal centres (CEFERESOs) and each state's own prison system, in keeping with the federal structure. The Constitution organises the penitentiary system on the basis of respect for human rights and of work, training, education, health and sport as means to the social reinsertion of the sentenced person (Article 18), and sentence execution is now under judicial control through the single national code.
The same idea, explained generally
- What is justice?
Justice is the principle that people should be treated according to rules that apply equally to everyone, decided by bodies that are authorised, constrained, and answerable. This guide explains what that means institutionally.
- Why do justice systems need oversight?
Justice institutions hold coercive powers, often operate out of public view, and make decisions that are hard to reverse. This guide explains the oversight mechanisms built to detect and correct errors, and their limits.
Sources
Sources
Political Constitution of the United Mexican States (1917, current text)
Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación / official constitutional text · Legislation · 1917-02-05 · link verified 2026-07-27
The Political Constitution of the United Mexican States (1917), confirmed against the Supreme Court's per-article texts and a current-text mirror in two independent passes (the consolidated official PDF at diputados.gob.mx was unreachable). Supports Art. 17 (federal and local laws shall guarantee the independence of the courts); Art. 40 (a representative, democratic, secular and federal Republic of free and sovereign States and Mexico City); Art. 124 (residual powers reserved to the States or Mexico City); Art. 73-XXI (Congress legislates federal crimes and organized crime, and enacts a single national code of criminal procedure, sentence execution and juvenile justice governing both the federal and the common order); Art. 94 (the Supreme Court of nine Ministers, plus a judicial-administration body and a Judicial Discipline Tribunal); Art. 102-A (the Public Prosecution of the Federation is organised as an autonomous public body, the Fiscalía General de la República); Art. 21 (public security is a shared function of the Federation, the states and the municipalities; the investigation of crimes corresponds to the Public Prosecutor with the police under its conduct and command); Art. 18 (the penitentiary system, organised for social reinsertion); Art. 96 and Art. 116-III (judges elected by direct citizen vote — see the 2024 reform); and Art. 102-B (the human-rights commissions and their non-binding recommendations).
Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research (ICPR), Birkbeck, University of London · Academic · link verified 2026-07-27
The World Prison Brief country page for Mexico (compiled by ICPR from the national prison administration), read directly and re-confirmed by hand on the day of authoring — its figures had updated since the research pass, so the current values are used. Supports a total prison population of 268,245 including pre-trial detainees at 31 May 2026 (source: the national prison administration); a rate of 197 per 100,000 (UN population estimate); an official capacity of 227,658 at the same date; and an occupancy level of 117.8% at 31 May 2026 — above capacity, population and capacity carrying the same date. The page names the administering body as the Órgano Administrativo Desconcentrado de Prevención y Readaptación Social; its "ministry responsible" label ("Comisión Nacional de Seguridad") is out of date (that body was dissolved in 2018).