The Supreme Court of Mexico is debating requiring pretrial detention.

MEXICO CITY, Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador charged the justices with breaking the separation of powers as the Supreme Court of Mexico debated the nation's obligatory pretrial detention programme on Monday.

The most violent criminal suspects are rarely freed on bond anywhere in the world. However, López Obrador has increased the number of charges in Mexico that call for a suspect to be held in custody pending trial from 10 to 16, which now includes several nonviolent offences.

Some justices contend that the practise is against international agreements that forbid pretrial detention except in "exceptional" circumstances to keep criminal suspects from eluding justice. But López Obrador asserts that Congress should make that decision.

Before the court session started on Monday, López Obrador said, "If they cancel this item, it is an open invasion of the rights of the legislative branch and would violate the balance and separation of powers." They won't, in my opinion, because it would be a flagrant violation of the Constitution.

Justice Luis Maria Aguilar of the Supreme Court asserted that pretrial detention amounted to a "sentence carried out beforehand," pointing out that some charges carried sentences of only a few months, significantly less time than the majority of people spend awaiting trial.

Other judges, however, disagreed, stating that due to the supremacy of international treaties, the court lacked the jurisdiction to declare a constitutional provision illegal.

The remaining 11 justices are set to make arguments on Tuesday, after which the court adjourned.

It appeared from the proceedings on Monday that not enough votes would be needed to deem the practise unlawful. However, the court must nonetheless hear a more narrowly focused appeal based on the identical arguments that would only be advantageous to the plaintiffs in a specific case.

On Monday, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Arturo Zaldivar tweeted that the court was "beginning debate on one of the most transcendent concerns for the constitutional system and people's human rights. We'll handle it on our own initiative and with complete accountability.

In Mexico, just two out of every ten people accused of a crime are ever proven guilty. This means that, despite spending years often in Mexico's overcrowded, dangerous jails, some 75,000 of the estimated 92,000 suspects jailed pending trial — frequently in the same cells with hardened criminals — won't be found guilty.

Surprisingly significant periods of time can pass during trials in Mexico. After serving 17 years in prison while facing a murder trial, two men were recently released with ankle monitors.

According to activists, a growing number of Mexicans are being forced into a type of plea bargain merely because they would likely serve more time behind bars seeking to clear their reputations if found guilty.

Limiting pretrial detention, according to López Obrador, would lead to increased pressure on judges to take bribes in exchange for suspects' release and would result in a "revolving-door" court system where suspects might leave jail as soon as they are arrested.

Activists claim that it is also debatable whether Mexico should imprison people for years based solely on the orders of the police, who frequently lack investigation expertise and keep suspects detained while attempting to establish charges against them.

Like the US, Mexico does not have a cash or property bail system. Instead, there are more than a dozen methods, including as electronic monitoring devices, passport seizure, and recurring check-ins, designed to ensure that suspects appear in court.

About 30% of those detained pending trial, according to Chrstel Rosales of the government watchdog group Mexico Evalua — Mexico Evaluates — are accused of home invasion robberies, 20% of domestic abuse, and 10% of low-level drug sales or possession.

Rosales claims that since López Obrador increased the amount of "no-bail" charges in 2019 and included that in the Constitution, the country's prison population has increased by around 30%. When people on pretrial detention are placed in overcrowded, understaffed, and gang-controlled prisons in Mexico, it can be hell for them because they frequently enter without any prior jail experience or gang affiliations.

Mandatory pretrial imprisonment "violates international principles on human rights," the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention stated in a statement on Monday.

The working group's president, Miriam Estrada-Castillo, stated that "one of the most serious repercussions is that many Mexicans spend more than a decade in prison awaiting trial, without being given a sentence and in circumstances that seriously jeopardise their lives and wellbeing."