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.

Auteur
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.

Contenu
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