(Photo by Monica Ortiz Uribe - Fronteras)

States across Mexico have constructed new courtrooms, like this one in Ciudad Juárez, to accommodate oral trials that are open to the public.

Saturday Mexico will hit a self-imposed deadline for a complete overhaul of its judicial system.

"Basically, the old system was better at putting innocent people in jail than punishing the true criminals," said KJZZ reporter Mónica Ortiz Uribe.

The reforms are supposed to open up trials to the public and grant more rights to people who have been accused of crimes.

The proposed changes were initially passed by Congress in 2008 and gave all 31 Mexican states eight years to put the reforms in place.

Learn more about the overhaul in Monica Ortiz Uribe's series Courting Justice.