Colombian Criminal Justice in Crisis

Most people believe that criminal justice in Colombia is rife with impunity and corruption. Elvira María Restrepo delves beneath such beliefs to reveal a system driven at a fundamental level by fear and distrust from outside the system itself. With the present difficulties in the country tantamount to a state of irregular war, the judiciary is in crisis. It has to contribute to the construction of peace and the reconstruction of trust, or perish.

Autorentext

Elvira María Restrepo was trained as a lawyer at Universidad de los Andes, Colombia and Harvard University. She went on to coordinate the Human Rights Preparatory Commission for the Constitutional Assembly which reformed the Colombian Constitution in 1991. After working as a legal advisor to the Colombian General, she moved to the UK, where she obtained her D.Phil. at Oxford University.

Zusammenfassung
Colombia's criminal jurisdiction is most commonly associated with impunity and corruption. Elvira Maria Restrepo delves beneath these beliefs to reveal a system driven at a fundamental level by fear and distrust. Not only is the judicial system partially immobilised, but the political system is unable to act authoritatively over a range of illegal forces within the country. The poor performance of the judiciary is compounded by its failure to deal with those cases it does prosecute with equity and impartiality. This generates distrust in the justice administration. In view of this crisis, judicial reform in 1991 laid the foundations for a more independent and powerful judiciary. While the crisis is still far from over, the criminal jurisdiction has shown some modest, but significant, results since 1991 in its struggle against impunity. Restrepo concludes that the present judiciary has a hidden potential to contribute to the reconstruction of trust and peace in Colombia.

Inhalt

List of Tables and Charts Preface Acronyms Introduction PART I: OVERVIEW OF THE POLITICAL AND JUDICIAL SYSTEMS The Political Background The System of Justice PART II: CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN CRISIS Performance of the System of Justice Fear to Accuse and Fear to Prosecute Judicial Corruption: Heroes and Villains PART III: FEAR AND DISTRUST Impact of Drug Trafficking in Judicial Institutions Justice in a Country with an Irregular War References Bibliography Charts and Maps Index