Mexican government officials lose legal immunity from prosecution - somewhat

The president of the United States is immune from arrest and prosecution for any crime committed while he's in office. The immunity is absolute. If 100 witnesses see the president commit murder, he still can't be arrested and hauled off to jail like any other citizen. The Congress must first impeach him -- a lengthy and complicated process -- and only afterwards may he be subjected to ordinary criminal case procedures. The president is the only officer at any level of government in the United States, federal or state, with such protection. It was expressly written in to the U.S. constitution to safeguard the president and the high office he holds from political pressures masquerading as criminal charges.

Imagine that such powerful immunization to ordinary criminal process belonged not only to the president or prime minister, but to legislators such as senators, congressmen, members of parliament and deputies, as they're called here. Imagine that it even protected state governors. For generations all such functionaries in Mexico have been fully immunized from criminal liability -- as long as they held office -- under a special creature of Mexican constitutional law known as the fuero. The fuero has proven to be solid legal bedrock for many a Mexican politician who wanted to delay or avoid justice in his own case. But no more. This week Mexico's Senate voted to modify the protection considerably, for virtually all public officeholders.

Under the new system, if a public prosecutor opens a criminal investigation and presents sufficient preliminary evidence before a judge to suggest that a legislator has committed a crime, the judge may then submit a formal request to the appropriate legislative body (senate, house of deputies or state legislature), asking that the suspected official be stripped of his or her immunity. If the legislative body agrees, the official may be arrested immediately and criminal prosecution will begin. If legislators refuse to remove immunity, prosecution will be deferred until after the official is no longer in office. It is anticipated that there will be very few denials, and that if real evidence against a legislator is presented, his or her immunity will be stripped. At least that's the spirit and intention of the new law.

Mexico's Senate added a special rider to the law modifying the fuero, which guarantees protection from criminal prosecution for anything a legislator says in public debate while on the floor of the senate or in the house of deputies. Many countries with vigorous legislative bodies have adopted similar prophylactic measures. The U.S. constitution contains the Speech and Debate Clause, for instance, which does exactly the same thing.