Until recently, Mexico’s criminal court system systematically failed to observe the human rights of defendants, leading to widespread criticisms about the integrity of the system and the vulnerability of defendants to unconscionable judicial practices. Intending to remedy those deficiencies, several Mexican states have proceeded to transition from a semi-inquisitorial criminal procedure to an American-style adversarial one. Because of a 2008 reform to the national constitution, all Mexican states must adopt such criminal procedure reforms by 2016. In theory, these reforms should result in fewer overall cases, a reduced reliance on pre-trial detentions, and more dismissals of cases and acquittals. This thesis uses data collected by Mexico’s official statistical agency, INEGI, to test these hypotheses in judicial districts in four states: Oaxaca, Chihuahua, Morelos, and Zacatecas. While far fewer criminal cases are being brought in early-implementer districts that have transitioned to the new criminal procedures, the results on other statistical indicators are mixed. Nonetheless, the balance of evidence suggests that the reformed procedures are more likely to be fair to defendants and reduce overall wrongful convictions. / text

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The primary basis of this construction is that one of the roles of the judiciary is that of enhancing and protecting human rights. This is an important function which is best implemented through judicial independence. Across Africa and most notably in Zimbabwe, political interference has been noted as a factor that limits judicial independence. The judiciary‘s lack of independence has made it impossible for it to protect human rights in Zimbabwe. This signifies that a new approach to judicial protection of human rights in the country is required. Constitutional reform could be the appropriate legal tool to achieve this objective. Zimbabwe has undertaken constitutional reforms which may help in addressing the human rights situation in the country. These reforms have captured legal principles which will ensure an improvement in the human rights situation. Key to the reforms, has been the independence of the judiciary. The Constitution guarantees the independence of the judiciary. Despite such guarantees there are a number of challenges with regards to this independence. The aim of this research is to show what measures need to be taken for the judiciary to adequately protect human rights and to establish other measures that can be taken to address the human rights issues in Zimbabwe

The economic crisis and the phenomenon of globalization have generated such a   great impact on States that it has also had an effect onConstitutional Law, since the attention has beenturned towards the possibilities of constitutional reforms  and the question about the role the Constitutions should play in this scenery.In this context, the author states that the crisis must be seen as an opportunity to reconfigurate the relations between the State and the citizens. She maintains that because of the crisis, paradoxes have been created and made evident, and in the solution of  those  paradoxes  Constitutional Law and the Constitutions of each State can be of valuable help. / La crisis económica y el fenómeno de la globalización han generado un impacto tan grande en los Estados que ello ha repercutido también enel Derecho Constitucional, pues se ha volcado la atención hacia las posibilidades de reforma constitucional y la pregunta sobre cuál es el rol a desempeñar por las Constituciones en este contexto.Ante esta situación, la autora plantea que la crisis debe ser vista como una oportunidad de reconfigurar las relaciones entre el Estado y los ciudadanos. Sostiene que por la crisis se han generado y hecho evidentes paradojas en cuya solución el Derecho Constitucional y las Constituciones de cada Estado pueden ser una valiosa herramienta.

This master thesis focuses on the changes in domestic and foreign policy during the presidency of Michelle Bachelet in Chile (2006-2010). The goal of this study is to find out whether systemic changes in domestic politics and/or reorientation in foregin policy have taken place within the regional shift to the left. The paper is divided into four logically connected chapters. The conclusion is that, despite several partial changes in domestic sphere and a major emphasis in regional aspects of foreign policy, no aforementioned profound changes have occurred.

NÃo à verdade que o âEstado-mÃnimoâ, resultado do Ãltimo ciclo de liberalizaÃÃo econÃmica, tenha como caracterÃstica uma menor intervenÃÃo na esfera econÃmica. Na verdade, do ponto de vista do fundo pÃblico federal, o Estado praticamente duplicou seu tamanho na dÃcada de reformas â 1990. Estas reformas mudaram radicalmente o padrÃo de distribuiÃÃo do fundo pÃblico atravÃs de um duplo movimento: o âenxugamentoâ da faceta redistributiva estatal, incorporada ao texto original da ConstituiÃÃo Federal de 1988; e a âmaximizaÃÃoâ da intervenÃÃo estatal atravÃs da remuneraÃÃo direta do capital. Tendo em vista que as garantias constitucionais de financiamento para a educaÃÃo, atravÃs de receita vinculada ao ensino, representavam um obstÃculo ao redirecionamento do fundo pÃblico, um conjunto de medidas foram tomadas no sentido de demoli-las: a hoje denominada DesvinculaÃÃo de Receitas da UniÃo, a reduÃÃo da subvinculaÃÃo ao ensino fundamental, os reiterados descumprimentos das vinculaÃÃes constitucionais, a polÃtica fiscal e tributÃria que privilegia a arrecadaÃÃo nÃo vinculada ao ensino e o FUNDEF, que provocou a municipalizaÃÃo acelerada do atendimento com uma menor participaÃÃo da UniÃo na manutenÃÃo do ensino fundamental. Essas medidas tiveram grande impacto na realidade educacional de Fortaleza, onde a rede municipal dobrou seu atendimento em menos de uma dÃcada, o que agravou as disparidades entre a rede fÃsica existente e o direito a um padrÃo mÃnimo de qualidade do ensino. No entanto, nÃo à possÃvel perceber uma mudanÃa, similar à ocorrida na UniÃo, no padrÃo de distribuiÃÃo do fundo pÃblico municipal. No municÃpio, as despesas com educaÃÃo permaneceram estÃveis nos Ãltimos anos. Assim, o resultado das Ãltimas reformas foi a progressiva diminuiÃÃo do gasto-aluno no ensino fundamental, caracterizando a âuniversalizaÃÃo com pauperizaÃÃoâ da educaÃÃo pÃblica. / It is not truth that the âminimum Stateâ, consequence of the last cycle of economic liberalization, has as main characteristic a minor intervention in the economic area. Actually, in the point of view of Federal government funds, the State practically duplicated its size in the reform decade - 1990. These reforms radically changed the standard of distribution of the Government funds through a double movement: the âdrying upâ of the redistributive Stateâs side, incorporated to the original text of the Federal Constitution of 1988; and the âmaximizationâ of Stateâs intervention through the direct remuneration of the capital. Considering that the constitutional guarantees for the financing of education, through the entailment of funds, represented an obstacle to the re-allocation of government resources, a series of measures had been taken to destroy them: the so called âunentailment of the Union fundsâ, the reduction of the under-entailment to basic education, the reiterated disobedience of the constitutional entailments, the tax policy that favors the not entailed tax revenues and the FUNDEF, that caused the acceleration of the municipal attendance with a fewer participation of the Union in the maintenance of basic education. These measures had great impact in the educational reality of Fortaleza, where the municipal system doubled its attendance in less than one decade, which made the gap between the existing physical organization and the right to a minimum standard of quality of education even worse. However, it is not possible to see a modification, similar to the occurred in the Union, in the standard of the distribution of municipal government funds. At the municipal level, the expenditures with education have remained steady in recent years. Therefore, the result of the last reforms was the gradual reduction of the cost per student in basic education, characterizing the âgeneralization with impoverishmentâ of the public education.

XIMENES, Salomão Barros. Fundo público e direito á educação: um estudo a partir dos gastos públicos da União e do Município de Fortaleza. 2006. 201f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Educação) – Universidade Federal do Ceará, Faculdade de Educação, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação Brasileira, Fortaleza-CE, 2006. / Submitted by Liliane oliveira (morena.liliane@hotmail.com) on 2012-07-19T13:49:26Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2006_DIS_SBXIMENES.pdf: 1382491 bytes, checksum: b3045185df6358be6f6b655f9e8cefb9 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Josineide Góis(josineide@ufc.br) on 2012-07-23T16:45:21Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2006_DIS_SBXIMENES.pdf: 1382491 bytes, checksum: b3045185df6358be6f6b655f9e8cefb9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2012-07-23T16:45:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2006_DIS_SBXIMENES.pdf: 1382491 bytes, checksum: b3045185df6358be6f6b655f9e8cefb9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / It is not truth that the “minimum State”, consequence of the last cycle of economic liberalization, has as main characteristic a minor intervention in the economic area. Actually, in the point of view of Federal government funds, the State practically duplicated its size in the reform decade - 1990. These reforms radically changed the standard of distribution of the Government funds through a double movement: the “drying up” of the redistributive State’s side, incorporated to the original text of the Federal Constitution of 1988; and the “maximization” of State’s intervention through the direct remuneration of the capital. Considering that the constitutional guarantees for the financing of education, through the entailment of funds, represented an obstacle to the re-allocation of government resources, a series of measures had been taken to destroy them: the so called “unentailment of the Union funds”, the reduction of the under-entailment to basic education, the reiterated disobedience of the constitutional entailments, the tax policy that favors the not entailed tax revenues and the FUNDEF, that caused the acceleration of the municipal attendance with a fewer participation of the Union in the maintenance of basic education. These measures had great impact in the educational reality of Fortaleza, where the municipal system doubled its attendance in less than one decade, which made the gap between the existing physical organization and the right to a minimum standard of quality of education even worse. However, it is not possible to see a modification, similar to the occurred in the Union, in the standard of the distribution of municipal government funds. At the municipal level, the expenditures with education have remained steady in recent years. Therefore, the result of the last reforms was the gradual reduction of the cost per student in basic education, characterizing the “generalization with impoverishment” of the public education / Não é verdade que o “Estado-mínimo”, resultado do último ciclo de liberalização econômica, tenha como característica uma menor intervenção na esfera econômica. Na verdade, do ponto de vista do fundo público federal, o Estado praticamente duplicou seu tamanho na década de reformas – 1990. Estas reformas mudaram radicalmente o padrão de distribuição do fundo público através de um duplo movimento: o “enxugamento” da faceta redistributiva estatal, incorporada ao texto original da Constituição Federal de 1988; e a “maximização” da intervenção estatal através da remuneração direta do capital. Tendo em vista que as garantias constitucionais de financiamento para a educação, através de receita vinculada ao ensino, representavam um obstáculo ao redirecionamento do fundo público, um conjunto de medidas foram tomadas no sentido de demoli-las: a hoje denominada Desvinculação de Receitas da União, a redução da subvinculação ao ensino fundamental, os reiterados descumprimentos das vinculações constitucionais, a política fiscal e tributária que privilegia a arrecadação não vinculada ao ensino e o FUNDEF, que provocou a municipalização acelerada do atendimento com uma menor participação da União na manutenção do ensino fundamental. Essas medidas tiveram grande impacto na realidade educacional de Fortaleza, onde a rede municipal dobrou seu atendimento em menos de uma década, o que agravou as disparidades entre a rede física existente e o direito a um padrão mínimo de qualidade do ensino. No entanto, não é possível perceber uma mudança, similar à ocorrida na União, no padrão de distribuição do fundo público municipal. No município, as despesas com educação permaneceram estáveis nos últimos anos. Assim, o resultado das últimas reformas foi a progressiva diminuição do gasto-aluno no ensino fundamental, caracterizando a “universalização com pauperização” da educação pública

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