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32C H A P T E R Iselected by competitive examination. They are adequately trained and act objectivelyand professionally.However, the same cannot be said of the local, state, and Federal District judicial systems.Although notable efforts have been made to improve these systems, there are fewsuperior state courts that can be compared to the federal level courts. This situation leadsto a slow resolution of cases, since in the vast majority of cases the local decisions arechallenged before the federal courts in constitutional proceedings in which the legalityof the prior rulings is challenged.Furthermore, the Congress is currently debating a constitutional amendment applicableto the criminal justice system that seeks to effectively combat organized crimethrough more flexible and simplified procedures for searches and for the issuance ofarrest warrants. This bill is also notable for its inclusion of alternative means of criminaljustice, and for eliminating pretrial detentions when alternate measures exist. One pointthat should be treated with special care is the mentioned reduction in the requirementsfor the issuance of arrest warrants and the possibility of carrying out searches without awritten judicial order through the creation of so-called control judges who will beresponsible for issuing such arrest warrants expeditiously.Currently the political system is composed of three principal parties: the PRI, with aparty structure that reaches out to all corners of the country; the PAN, which currentlyholds the Presidency of the Republic; and the Democratic Revolution Party (Partido de laRevolución Democrática, PRD), which has drawn together the majority of the groups onthe left. As often happens in democratic systems and especially in a developing system,inside each of these political parties there are groups and interests with different and attimes ideologically contrary objectives.The electoral institutions are independent and fully recognized by the political players.These institutions include the Federal Electoral Institute (Instituto Federal Electoral),which conducts and certifies the elections; and the Federal Electoral Court (TribunalFederal Electoral), which resolves electoral disputes. The current electoral structure isthe product of a long political process, paradoxically initiated by the PRI, which gaveMexico the opportunity to find its own path toward democracy. However, the electoralinstitutions still need to be consolidated, a process that is underway and that will continueto be the work of the political parties and the future governments of Mexico.In this regard, a constitutional electoral reform was recently approved that seeks toresolve the problems in the recent federal elections (2006) through the regulation, amongother things, of the relationship between the press, the political parties, and their candidates.It also attempts to limit the influence of money on political campaigns and prohibitsstrategies based on messages that denigrate either political institutions or the candidates.Another important point of the electoral reform is the regulation of the propaganda putout by governmental powers in order to ensure more equitable electoral contests.