Criminal Justice Index (World Prison Brief)
The criterion is not established.
Mexico scored 0.25 on Factor 8 Criminal Justice of the World Justice Project in 2025. The country ranked 135th out of 143 globally, 27th out of 32 in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 39th out of 41 among upper-middle-income countries. These results place Mexico's criminal justice system among the lowest-performing systems in its comparative groups.
The assessment identifies weaknesses across all seven evaluated dimensions: effectiveness of criminal investigation, timeliness and effectiveness of adjudication, operation of the correctional system, impartiality, absence of corruption, independence from improper government influence, and respect for due process and the rights of accused persons.
The World Justice Project does not provide an official performance band for this factor equivalent to the RC2 categories. Accordingly, under the adopted rule for international indices without official bands, adjudication is based on the country's relative position within the same edition.
Applying the formula:
R = (N − r) / (N − 1)
R = (143 − 135) / 142 ≈ 0.056.
This places Mexico clearly within the lower third of the international distribution. The classification does not result from mechanically interpreting the 0.25 score as a percentage of compliance, but from Mexico's comparative position within the relevant edition. The double-check explicitly confirms this interpretation and the red classification.
The territorial review shows that performance is not uniform. Puebla, Chiapas, Mexico City, the State of Mexico, and Morelos recorded scores of 0.29 in the 2023–2024 state index, while Oaxaca scored 0.38, Aguascalientes 0.43, and Querétaro 0.51. These differences demonstrate comparatively stronger institutional capacities in some states, but they do not alter the national adjudication. A more favorable subnational result does not replace or elevate the national position published by the WJP.
Complementary prison-system information reinforces the existence of problems within the correctional dimension, but it is not used to recalculate or replace the World Justice Project's comprehensive result.
Accordingly, Mexico's national performance falls within the lower third of the international distribution for Factor 8 Criminal Justice.
Sources (6): the documents that support the traffic light
- World Prison Brief — Mexico (ICPR / Birkbeck, University of London) (Document · 2026)
- Saisana, M., & Saltelli, A. (2011). Rankings and ratings: Instructions for use. Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, 3(2), 247–268 (Academic)
- World Justice Project. (2024). Índice de Estado de Derecho en México 2023–2024: Factor 8, Justicia penal (Report)
- World Justice Project. (2025). Criminal Justice: Factor 8 methodology (Report)
- World Justice Project. (2025). WJP Rule of Law Index: Criminal Justice—Mexico (Report)
- World Justice Project. (2025). WJP Rule of Law Index: Criminal Justice—Mexico (Report)
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