72876 Award for Innovation in Transparency to Improve Institutional Management Documentation of the Office of the Public Prosecutor – Web-based Transparency Program Winner of the First Edition of the Award for Innovation in Transparency to Improve Institutional Management T he findings and conclusions in this document do not necessarily reflect the views of the Federal Institute for Information Access and Data Protection, the Ministry of Public Administration, the National Institute of Public Administration, or the World Bank. This document was prepared by Emilene Martínez Morales, a researcher in access to public information. Since 2001, she has worked with a number of institutions, including the National Security Archive at the George Washington University; Fundar Center for Research and Analysis; the Council for Transparency in Chile; the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Contents Education; and the Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE). Emilene currently coordinates the Mexican local activists’ network, “México Infórmate,� and works with the Mexican Accountability Network (Red por la Rendición de Cuentas). I. Introduction.......................................................................2 I. Introduction II. Description of the Project..................................................3 III. Institutional Context..........................................................3 The first edition of the Award for Innovation in Transparency to Improve Institutional Management in Mexico was presented in IV. Background........................................................................3 August 2010 by the World Bank, the Mexican Federal Institute for Information Access and Data Protection (IFAI), the National V. Project Details...................................................................4 Institute of Public Administration (INAP), and the Ministry of Public Administration (SFP). VI. Implementation Process....................................................5 The purpose of this award was to identify and disseminate, VII. Benefits..............................................................................6 nationally and internationally, good practices and/or innovations related to the disclosure of government data and VIII. Lessons Learned................................................................7 access to information, information management systems, and mechanisms for facilitating access to public information in IX. Looking Forward................................................................7 Mexico. X. Contact Information..........................................................7 Participation was open to public administration offices and entities at the federal, state, and municipal level; the federal XI. Bibliography.......................................................................7 and state legislative and judicial branches, as well as federal and local autonomous agencies. A total of 75 proposals were submitted, of which 24 were listed as finalists. The jury was composed of experts in public administration, transparency, accountability, and the right of access to information.1 A technical committee, consisting of staff from the sponsoring institutions, assisted the jury in on- site verification of finalists’ proposals . Rosa Isabel Montes Mendoza, Anáhuac University; Miguel Carbonell Sánchez, Instituto de 1 Investigaciones Jurídicas, National Autonomous University (Institute for Legal Research); Ernesto Isunza Vera, Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social (Center for Research and Higher Studies on Social Anthropology); Miguel Treviño de Hoyos, journalist; Aurelio �lvarez Orozco, Colegio Nacional de Educación Profesional Técnica (National College of Professional Technical Education), State of Mexico; Óscar Guerra Ford, Chairman, Conferencia Mexicana para el Acceso a la Información Pública (Mexican Conference for Access to Public Information—COMAIP); Mauricio Merino Huerta, Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (Center for Research and Teaching in Economics—CIDE); and Juan Pardinas Carpizo, Instituto Mexicano para la Competitividad (Mexican Institute for Competitiveness—IMCO). 2 The initiatives selected were: public prosecution agency, Investigative Police unit, a civil court, and a Preventive Police unit. In addition to these 1. “New Search Platform for the National Registry coordination offices are ten specialized agencies, including the of Professionals,� presented by the Ministry of one located at the Mexico City International Airport and the Education: an online search tool that makes specialized agency for environmental crimes. consultation of the National Registry of Professionals easier and more efficient; Under the Mexican judicial system, Offices of the Public Prosecutor open investigations into any act reported and 2. “PP Web-based Transparency Program,� presented by then turn cases over to other entities or authorities with the Office of the Attorney-General of Mexico City: a jurisdiction over the matter (this is the case, for example, with Web-based tool for locating individuals in the custody crimes that fall within the purview of the federal authorities of the Office of the Public Prosecutor; or were committed in neighboring states). Investigations are 3. “Resolutions and Opinions Search Tool of the conducted locally so that citizens do not have to travel to Federal Competition Commission,� presented by central offices. the Commission itself: a Web platform for searching It should be noted that the Transparency and Access to Public public versions of the institution’s resolutions and Information Law of the Federal District (LTAIPDF); the Personal opinions since 1993. Data Protection Law of the Federal District (LPDPDF); and the regulations pertaining thereto are enforceable in the Federal District. The Federal District Institute for Public Information Access and Personal Data Protection (InfoDF) is responsible II. Description of the Project for ensuring compliance with both laws. The PGJDF is currently processing 200,000 investigations Public Prosecution Office – Web-based Transparency program and has 15,000 public officials on staff, half of whom work in is a Web-based search tool for locating individuals in the the Decentralized Office of the Deputy Attorney General for custody of Mexico City’s Office of the Public Prosecutor. When Pretrial Investigations. Roughly 500 pretrial investigations are a search is conducted using first and last names, citizens can opened daily in the Federal District and 200 persons are placed obtain basic information on the whereabouts of persons in the custody of the Office of the Public Prosecutor. Taking in the custody of the Office of the Public Prosecutor—the into account that the Office of the Public Prosecutor has 48 prosecuting agency in which these individuals are located; the hours to make a decision on an individual’s legal status, on any telephone numbers of the office of the prosecution team, the given day between 300 and 400 persons are detained in the prosecuting attorney, and the head of the relevant agency; and 72 territorial coordination offices and 10 specialized agencies. the time remaining for a legal decision to be made regarding the detainee or for resolving that individual’s case. IV. Background III. Institutional Context Prior to the implementation of the PP – Web-based Transparency program, relatives of missing persons had to try to locate them by going in person to the various public The Office of the Attorney General, Federal District (PGJDF) is prosecution agencies or hospitals to seek information. responsible for investigating and prosecuting crimes through When they found them, they had to request basic data from its public prosecution offices, with the assistance of the personnel working in the holding cell area. This process Investigative Police. The Office of the Attorney General is resulted in the loss of extremely valuable time in terms of the divided into two departments—the Investigation Department legal status of persons in the custody of the Office of the Public and the Prosecution Department. Prosecutor, given the 48-hour period stipulated by Mexican In the Investigation Department, the Office of the Deputy law to determine the legal status of an individual. Attorney General for Pretrial Investigations, which is At the 2009 National Conference of Attorneys General, responsible for the PP Web-based Transparency program, state and military court prosecutors made a commitment to oversees 18 prosecution offices in the 16 boroughs that establish a national register of detainees. That same year, comprise the Federal District. These prosecution offices are the Office of the Attorney General, Federal District, with the in turn responsible for a total of 72 territorial coordination assistance of the Head of Government,3 took steps to establish offices2 covering a specific geographic area, composed of a the Transparent PP project, with the aim of creating a public The number of agencies is dependent on the population of a borough. For example, Cuajimalpa 2 Marcelo Ebrard Casaubón. 3 has two territorial coordination offices and Iztapalapa has ten. The 2011 census estimates the total population in the Federal District at 8,851,080 inhabitants. 3 register of all individuals in the custody of the Office of the According to the Deputy Attorney General for Pretrial Public Prosecutor.4 Investigations, in order to locate a missing person or detainee, relatives or attorneys had “to go to all the boroughs. If the Transparent PP was launched through a pilot program in nine person had been remanded, there was no information on agencies of the Federal District public prosecution agencies. whether that person was being sent to the detention center in It entailed strategically positioning plasma screens, similar the north, east, or south of the city. No one would tell them to those found at most airports, providing the following where their relatives or clients could be found.� information on persons detained by the agency in question: This situation prompted attorneys to introduce a procedural (1) Name of the individual in custody remedy known as a search appeal request in order to locate a detainee. This appeal request was addressed to all public (2) Pretrial investigation number prosecution officials, attorneys in Mexico City, and all judges, with the hope that a response would be provided, in the form (3) Act with which the individual is charged of a substantiated report, indicating whether the individual in question was in their custody.�5 (4) Start date Furthermore, public prosecution agencies routinely failed (5) A countdown timer indicating the expiration of the to provide citizens with information on their relatives or 48-hour period for determining the legal status of acquaintances who were in custody. The use of illegal practices the person in the custody of the Office of the Public for the provision of information on detainees was also Prosecutor. It indicates, for example, whether the commonplace. “A number of public officials took advantage process has ended or whether the person was of this situation to wrongfully obtain a bribe in exchange for transferred to a detention center or to another the provision of information to individuals. This practice was authority. discontinued since, from the time an individual is detained, that person is registered in the system.�6 Later on, screens were set up in all the territorial coordination offices, thus extending the program to all decentralized V. Project Details prosecution offices. The success of the program led to its expansion to all Federal District public prosecution agencies, including those of the specialized agencies. The success of the Transparent PP project 7 gave rise to the idea, in 2010, of establishing a Web-based system to consolidate all the information on persons in the custody of the Office of the Public Prosecutor in a single search tool accessible to public officials and the general public. This innovation was facilitated by the fact that all the agencies are connected to a single voice and data network. It is worth noting that the system provides access to information while protecting the personal data of detainees. The PP Web-based Transparency program is an online tool for locating individuals in the custody of the Office of the Public Prosecutor, using first and last names. The system is very user-friendly and: (1) It is accessed via the website http://mptransparente. pgjdf.gob.mx Fig. 1. The Transparent PP project at a Federal District public prosecution agency (2) Searches are conducted by typing the first name, Source: Decentralized Office of the Deputy Attorney General for Pretrial paternal last name, maternal last name, and age (to Investigations, Federal District filter out persons with the same name) of the person whose information is being sought. As of November 2011, the PGJDF was the only institution, at both the national and state level, that had 4 5 Interview with the Deputy Attorney General for Pretrial Investigations at the decentralized level, Luis managed to provide access to information on persons in the custody of prosecution agencies. Genaro Vásquez Rodríguez (November 15, 2011). 6 Ibid. 7 This project was the winner of the 2009 Innovation in Transparency competition in which the Federal Institute for Information Access and Data Protection (InfoDF) participated. 4 If the person is found, then the “see location� option is The system makes provisions for users who do not have an selected and the following information is displayed: Internet connection. In such cases, interested persons may dial the telephone number of the Citizens’ Advisory Council (1) Address of the public prosecution agency; telephone on Public Safety and Justice8 call center. The center’s staff will numbers of the agency and name of the official conduct the searches requested by citizens directly on the PP in charge; name of the prosecuting attorney and –Transparency website. telephone numbers of the prosecution team; and location of the agency in question. A communications strategy targeting the media and general public was adopted to disseminate information on the (2) The Office of the Public Prosecutor’s decision program, which was launched through a press conference that regarding the detainee and a timer indicating when was attended by the Federal District Prosecutor and covered the 48 hours for determining the legal status of an by the main media organizations in Mexico City. Information individual in the custody of the Office of the Public brochures were also prepared and posted at bus stops around Prosecutor will expire. the city and on trains, and other points within the public transit metro system. In addition, information on the program was disseminated at various training sessions conducted by the personnel of the Decentralized Office of the Deputy The information on each individual in the custody of the Attorney General for Pretrial Investigations targeting a number Office of the Public Prosecutor is retained on the website of educational institutions and civil society. during the 48-hour period that the individual remains in the custody of the prosecution office. The information is updated In 2011, the system introduced a new feature that provides to indicate whether the person was released, whether a lack direct access to PP Web-based Transparency program from of jurisdiction determination was made (so the individual gets BlackBerry devices through the PGJDF application of the Office transferred to another state or to a specialized prosecution of the Attorney General, Federal District (PGJDF). The Office of agency such as the one for kidnapped persons or minors); or, if the Attorney General deemed it important to provide access the person was remanded, the detention center to which the via this device since, by its own estimates, this is the most person was sent. widely used by attorneys in Mexico City. For purposes of monitoring and evaluation, at the end of a visit to the PP –Transparency website, users are asked to complete a satisfaction survey so that areas of improvement of the system can be identified. The survey asks users to rate the service; 72.9 percent rated the information as adequate and 97.4 percent responded that information is helpful. In addition, based on simulated user calls made to monitor the service provided to citizens through the call center, the service was rated excellent. As of November 15, 2011, based on the figures provided by the Office of the Attorney General, Federal District, the system showed a total of 168,084 hits and 8,281 downloads of the PGJDF application software. VI. Implementation Process PP Web-based Transparency program was implemented by the Decentralized Office of the Deputy Attorney General for Pretrial Investigations, in conjunction with the Mexico City Directorate General for Technology and Prosecution Systems. The project was developed using the ASP.Net programming Fig. 2. Example of search results on the PP – Web-based Transparency project Source: Decentralized Office of the Deputy Attorney General for Pretrial Investigations The Citizens’ Advisory Council on Public Safety and Justice is an entity for consultation, analysis, and 8 civic participation in matters related to public safety, justice, civic culture, and assistance to crime victims. It has the authority to monitor the activities of the prosecution services, the Federal Police, , and civil court judges. 5 platform, which links pretrial investigation system data with the application for BlackBerry devices was obtained from (used to launch, carry out, and make decisions related to Research in Motion, which assigned the task of designing the pretrial investigations) with the data in the PP – Web-based PGJDF application software to the developer Tesco. It should Transparency system. be pointed out that this application can be obtained free of charge at the BlackBerry App store. Project implementation entailed the following phases: It is important to note that, during the implementation process, (1) Design and Implementation of the Transparent PP the Office of the Attorney General was in regular contact with project. The program was implemented in 2009, after InfoDF in order to verify that the system was protecting the almost one year of consultations within the Office of personal data of detainees. One point of discussion was the Attorney General and with the Federal District’s the wording in the field indicating the reason for which an Institute for Information Access and Data Protection individual was detained, which reads “acts with which the (InfoDF). person is charged.� After several meetings and discussions, a decision was made to use the term “acts� to ensure that this (2) Discussion of platforms, which was aimed at providing information could not be used to violate individual privacy. greater access to basic information on persons in the “Reference is thus made not to “a crime� with which a person custody of the Office of the Public Prosecutor using is charged, but to “acts�.12 information and communication technologies. (3) Implementation of the PP Web-based Transparency project, which became operational in VII. Benefits September 2010. (4) Incorporation of the Call Center through the PP Web-based Transparency project has been beneficial to the Citizens’ Advisory Council on Public Safety and institution and to citizens. Justice. External Benefits (5) Launching of the PGJDF application software for BlackBerry users in 2011 which,in addition to the PP Web-based Transparency responds to the needs of the PP – Web-based Transparency program, includes relatives, friends, and attorneys of persons in the custody of PP Virtu@l9 and the directory of the Office of the the Office of the Public Prosecutor. Before this program was Attorney General. introduced, the search for missing persons required visits to various public prosecution agencies and hospitals. “It could take days to find someone, during which there were fears that the person was dead, missing, or kidnapped. This is no longer It is worth noting that implementation of both projects met the case.�13 In addition, the program ensures compliance with with some resistance by public officials in the Office of the the provisions of Article 20 of the Constitution, which states Public Prosecutor. At the start of the Transparent PP project, that: “persons accused of a crime must be provided with all the screens crashed often or were being sabotaged.10 There the information necessary for their defense.� were also delays with the collection of information and problems with persons in the inmate section who had not The program eliminated one area that provided an opening for been registered. For these reasons, close oversight of the corruption: “The first opportunity for corruption in the Office program was undertaken and a “number of investigations of the Public Prosecutor arised when a request was made were even launched in public prosecution offices and in the for information on someone in the custody of this Office.�14 ranks of the federal police related to the crime for the forced This system, which is automatically updated when a pretrial disappearance of persons.�11 investigation begins, has made it possible to “reduce the problems linked to the monopoly on information held by the No additional resources were used to develop, pilot, or different public prosecution agencies.�15 implement the project. Work was done using the budget allocated to the Office of the Attorney General. During the first The Chairman of the Federal District Human Rights Commission phase, discarded desktop monitors were used as screens. In noted that the PP Web-based Transparency program offers the case of both projects, the only human resources required “an example of how an open-minded approach, coupled with were those in the Office of the Public Prosecutor and the ICT personnel who maintain the technology platform. Assistance 12 Ibid. 9 System for filing complaints, instruments, and pretrial investigations via a BlackBerry. 13 Ibid. 10 Interview with the Deputy Attorney General for Pretrial Investigations at the decentralized level, Luis 14 Ibid. Genaro Vásquez Rodríguez (November 15, 2011). 15 Remarks of the Chairman of InfoDF, Óscar Guerra Ford, at the presentation of the PP – Transparency 11 Ibid. via the Web program (September 27, 2010). 6 the use of technology, can protect rights to information and IX. Looking Forward provide legal security, in addition to helping ensure that public servants place respect for human rights at the center of their work.�16 The program is being continuously improved based on Internal Benefits opportunities identified by public officials as well as feedback from user satisfaction surveys. Plans are in place to provide Despite the initial resistance, PP Web-based Transparency access platforms to PP Web-based Transparency via iPhone, program has been beneficial to public servants in numerous iPad, and Android devices in 2012. ways. For example, the new system provides them with legal safeguards. “Defense attorneys often wrongly accused public The Office of the Attorney General plans to share information officials of illegal detention, claiming that a detainee had been on the program with local counterparts in Latin America, held for more than 48 hours with no decision being made on indicating that “often, areas of collaboration are handled at that person’s legal status. There was no way to refute that the national or federal level, while the local authorities are the claim.�17 In addition, processing of detainees in the holding ones that have more contact with the population.�19 cell area has been expedited, “allowing the personnel of investigation units that hold detainees to act more efficiently The new initiatives to be implemented by the Office of the and expeditiously to take the steps necessary to ensure that Deputy Attorney General include searches for deceased and the pretrial investigation is properly conducted.�18 injured persons. At the moment, “a very unsophisticated system is in place�.20 A picture is taken of the victim’s body and Introduction of the program led to an 18.5 percent reduction an identification card is placed on the bulletin boards in public in complaints related to delays in the provision of assistance, prosecution agencies. Individuals can also go to the Center a lack of guidance, the provision of incorrect information, or for Missing Persons where they are shown a photo album. the failure to provide information on persons in the custody of In the case of injured persons, there is no mechanism for the Office of the Public Prosecutor. The program has helped consolidating information on victims of mishaps or accidents. visitors from the national and local Human Rights Commissions Now that these information screens have become synonymous with their work, since they now simply have to check the with the Office of the Public Prosecutor, we want to make detainees in the detention area against information appearing other information more accessible as well.�21 on the screens. X. Contact Information VIII. Lessons Learned Persons interested to obtain more information on the PP The lessons learned from this program have been shared with Web-based Transparency Program can contact the the Deputy Attorney General Offices in other Mexican states. However, Attorney General’s Advisor’s Coordinator at: adm.cord.sapd@ the program can be replicated only if a single voice and data pgjdg.gob.mx. network linking prosecution agencies is in place. In the view of the Office of the Attorney General, although information on the program needs to be disseminated, XI. Bibliography unfortunately there are no resources available to conduct a massive communications campaign. In light of this constraint, it is extremely important to advertise the program by word of (1) Remarks by the President of InfoDF, Óscar Guerra mouth and for officials in the Office of the Attorney General to discuss the program during media interviews. To implement Ford, at the PP Web-based Transparency Program similar projects, given budget constraints, the Deputy Attorney presentation, (September 27, 2010). General recommends the building of synergies with the private (2) Remarks by the Chairman of the Federal District sector, particularly with companies involved with corporate socially responsibility (CSR) programs. Human Rights Commission, Luis González Placencia, at the PP Web-based Transparency Program presentation, (September 27, 2010). 16 Remarks of the Chairman of Federal District Commission on Human Rights, Luis González Placencia, at the presentation of the PP – Web-based Transparency program (September 27, 2010). 17 Interview with the Deputy Attorney General for Pretrial Investigations at the decentralized level, Luis 19 Interview with the Deputy Attorney General for Pretrial Investigations at the decentralized level, Luis Genaro Vásquez Rodríguez (November 15, 2011). Genaro Vásquez Rodríguez (November 15, 2011). 18 Registration form for the program “PP – Web-based Transparency Program, Seeking Information on 20 Ibid. Persons in Custody;� Award for Innovation in Transparency to Improve Institutional Management. 21 Ibid. 7 (3) Application form for the “PP Web-based Transparency Program, Seeking Information on Persons in Custody;� Award for Innovation in Transparency to Improve Institutional Management. (4) September 2010 Press Releases related to the PP Web-based Transparency Program, included with the application form for the “PP Web-based Transparency Program, Seeking Information on Persons in Custody;� Award for Innovation in Transparency to Improve Institutional Management. (5) March 2011 Press Releases on the PP Virtu@l, included with the application form for the Program “PP Web-based Transparency Program, Seeking Information on Persons in Custody;� Award for Innovation in Transparency to Improve Institutional Management. (6) PowerPoint file “PP Web-based Transparency Program� prepared by the Decentralized Office of the Deputy Attorney General for Pretrial Investigations (electronic copy provided by the Office of the Deputy Attorney General on November 15, 2011). (7) PowerPoint file “PP Web-based Transparency Program,� prepared by the Decentralized Office of the Deputy Attorney General for Pretrial Investigations (electronic copy provided by the Office of the Deputy Attorney General on November 15, 2011). (8) Advertising posters prepared by the Decentralized Office of the Deputy Attorney General for Pretrial Investigations to disseminate information on the program in the public transit metro and bus system, included with the application form for the “PP Web- based Transparency Program, Seeking Information on Persons in Custody;� Award for Innovation in Transparency to Improve Institutional Management. 8