State of Mexico Judiciary launches new criminal courts to reduce backlog

The Judicial Administration Body (OAJ) of the State of Mexico Judiciary has launched five criminal appellate courts to combat judicial backlog and accelerate the resolution of appeals against Control Court decisions. The reorganization includes a total of six bodies designed to redistribute workloads more equitably.

A diagnostic study revealed that the four existing unitary courts were handling 44.7 percent of criminal matters while accumulating 59.9 percent of the total backlog, with workloads sometimes tripling those of collegiate courts. To address this, the OAJ implemented Agreement APOAJ/42/2026, which redistributed pending case files through the Criminal Judicial Management System.

The new courts are located in Almoloya de Juárez (serving the Toluca area), Texcoco, and Tlalnepantla. Fernando Díaz Juárez, President of the OAJ, emphasized that the primary goal is to improve user service and reduce response times, stating, “There is no use in a matter if justice arrives late.”