Description
Reform Description
Co-creation of a strategy to improve the rule of law in Quintana Roo.
Problem(s) Addressed by Reform
Quintana Roo is one of the main tourist destinations in Mexico; in 2023 alone it received 10 million tourists. Its thriving economy and natural wealth have made it a very attractive area for business. Unfortunately, the weakness of its institutions, mainly due to the state’s young age of only 50 years, has also made it a perfect spot for national and international corruption and all kinds of abuse of power. The size of the problem can be understood by mentioning that Quintana Roo has two governors who have been sentenced to prison for corruption.
According to the World Justice Project (WJP), from 2019 to 2023 Quintana Roo has had a significant drop in rankings, and in the recent 2023-2024 index it is ranked 30th in the Mexican Rule of Law Index. The main challenges are the lack of checks and balances, access to justice, regulatory oversight, corruption and freedom of association.
In the state, great progress has been made in transparency, accountability and open government when spaces for co-creation are generated, involving different sectors (civil society, academia and the private sector). The current public administration is willing to open the doors to these working formats, recognising the problems currently faced by the state. Proof of this is that in a historic event, on 14 August, the Government of Quintana Roo, the Judiciary and the State Attorney General’s Office, the main actors in the administration of justice in the state, each signed a memorandum with the World Justice Project (WJP) to strengthen the rule of law in Quintana Roo.
This signing was done individually with World Justice Project, represented by Alejandro Gonzalez, as each has specific responsibilities and tasks based on their powers. Signing for the Government of Quintana Roo was Governor Mara Lezama; for the Judiciary, Presiding Magistrate Heyden Cebada Rivas; and for the State Attorney General’s Office, Raciel López Salazar. Also acting as witnesses were Reyna Arceo, Secretary of the State Comptroller’s Office (SECOES) and Cristina Torres, Secretary of Government (SEGOB); government points of contact for the Quintana Roo Local OGP Action Plan, as well as Cynthia Dehesa, director of Ciudadan@s por la Transparencia on behalf of civil society, and Maestra Alma Gabriela Arroyo Angulo, technical secretary of SESAEQROO.
In this sense, the strategy would be part of a broader programme, which is not only aligned with the priorities of the State Development Plan, as well as the themes of the New Agreement for the Wellbeing and Development of Quintana Roo, and different axes of the Open Justice Policy, but also has the necessary alliances between civil society and government to be realised.
Improving the rule of law in Quintana Roo would translate not only into better management of public resources and greater efficiency in public administration, but also into an increase in people’s quality of life, as well as a promotion of citizen participation, transparency and accountability that would allow for the reconstruction of the social fabric and the recovery of citizen confidence in institutions. It would imply a drastic change in the relationship between citizens and government in our state and municipalities.
Relevance to OGP Values
The strategy will be implemented through an open government roundtable comprising authorities, civil society, the private sector and academia. This mechanism will be governed by the principles of open government: transparency, public accountability and citizen participation. Based on an intervention plan, it will work through specialised commissions with the participation of civil society, whose actions will be reported periodically and publicly on the open government portal of the State of Quintana Roo.
This mechanism has been chosen because Quintana Roo has had important results under the model, being the 3rd place of the best states with best practices in Open Government according to the Rule of Law Index, as well as having the second place nationally in the open government metric 2023.
Intended Results
- The State of Quintana Roo within the Strategic Plan for Sustainable Development 2025-205 of the State of Quintana Roo will have a Rule of Law axis as a priority for action.
- Percentage increase in the Rule of Law Index, between 10 and 15% in the strengthening of the factors: absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, regulatory compliance and civil justice. This is a significant improvement or between 2 and 4 per cent on the total Index.
- Improvement in citizens’ perception of the guarantee of rights, justice, open government, transparency and accountability.
Milestones
Stage 1: Formalising International Partnerships (Months 1-2)
- Identify international organisations and potential strategic partners.
- Conduct exploratory meetings with selected organisations.
- Draft and review terms of partnerships.
- Sign MOUs Formalise preliminary agreements with strategic partners.
- Link engagement in OGP Challenge.
Stage 2: Intervention Plan 2024 (Months 3-4)
- Conduct a feasibility and prioritisation analysis according to needs and available
resources. - Define the objectives of the Intervention Plan 2024.
- Stakeholder mapping for the integration of specialised commissions
- Accompaniment sessions with WJP
- Approval of the Intervention Plan 2024
- Rules of operation of the specialised commissions
Stage 3: Work by Specialist Commissions (Months 4-6)
- Form specialised committees according to key areas of the project.
- Assign roles and responsibilities within the commissions.
- Conduct objective alignment session.
Stage 4: Priority Milestones with a One Year Deadline (Months 6-14)
- Develop specific strategies and proposals within each commission.
- Identify key milestones to be achieved in the coming year.
- Establish a detailed timeline for each milestone.
- Allocate resources and responsible parties for each milestone.
- Review and refine proposals in conjunction with the core team and WJP.
- Implement the first actions proposed by the commissions.
- Conduct initial monitoring and evaluation of the actions.
Stage 5: Analysis of Results (Month 15)
- Collect data and reports from all commissions and project areas.
- Present a final report and lessons learned to the team and partners.
- Adjust strategies and plan next steps based on the results.