JUSTICE REFORMS IN THE AMERICAS Are They Improving Our Judicial Systems?

Latin American justice systems have undergone notable changes over the past 10 years. These adjustments have increased the importance, power and independence of these systems and have improved the services that they provide.

Increased Competences CONSTITUTIONAL COURTSUPREME COURT Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Costa Rica Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Uruguay Venezuela

Reformed Procedures Has Inquisitorial System Changed to Adversarial System In Process of Changing Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Costa Rica Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Uruguay Venezuela

Investments to Improve Management In millions of dollars. Closed and ongoing credits for the past 10 years. CountryWorld BankIDBTotal Argentina Bolivia31334 Brazil013.3 Chile01.2 Colombia Costa Rica048 Dominican Republic040 Ecuador10.70 El Salvador Guatemala Honduras042.8 Mexico Nicaragua018.3 Paraguay012.5 Peru Uruguay010.2 Venezuela Total

Judicial Budgets Have Grown (dollars per capita) Country % Variation Argentina % Bolivia % Brazil (Federal) % Chile % Costa Rica % Dominican Republic % Guatemala4.2 0% Paraguay % Peru % Puerto Rico % Average %

Examples: –New mechanisms for selecting Supreme Court justices (Argentina and the Dominican Republic) –Role of Judicial Academies in human resources policies (Chile and Colombia) –Policies for reducing provisional status of judges (Peru) –Improvements in judicial salaries Improved Selection Systems and More Stable Positions

COUNTRYYear Judicial Academy Founded Argentina (Various provinces)Beginning in 2002 Bolivia1994 BrazilBeginning in the 1970s Chile1994 Colombia1996 (current) Costa Rica1971 Dominican Republic1998 Ecuador2003 El Salvador1991 Guatemala1998 Honduras1989 Mexico (Federal)1994 Nicaragua1993 Paraguay1998 Peru1993 Uruguay1996 Venezuela2000 Concern for Training Personnel

Increased Coverage CountryYearJudges per 100,000 inhabitants PeriodVariation Argentina % Bolivia % Chile % Colombia % Costa Rica % Guatemala % Mexico (Federal) % Nicaragua % Peru % Average %

HOWEVER, these changes are not perceived by our citizens, who continue to have a poor image and low amount of confidence in the operation of the judicial system.

Source: Latinobarómetro High Levels of Distrust in Judicial System

To this we must add… Perceptions of judicial corruption Perceptions of discriminatory system (the poor, gender, other at-risk sectors) Citizens always count issues related to justice and personal safety among their main problems.

How can we explain this? Increased powers implies increased demands and expectations, all of which shows the problems of judicial systems more clearly. Judicial systems have an acute problem in regard to relating to citizens: producing information, participating in public discussions, etc. (differences between experiences and perceptions) Poor quality of policy and volubility of political support for reform processes

Problems Associated with Reforms Design-related: –One dimensional: many reforms are limited to “juridical” issues –Co-opting of legal community –Little room for innovation –Partial technical development: only principles or general ideas, unable to replace practices –Uncoordinated reforms: the role of international cooperation (everyone has an agenda)

Problems … Strategy-related: –The trap of completeness: laundry list As compared to partial reforms (Ex. Management and Criminal Procedure Reform) –The trap of consensus: reforms without judges (which cannot be implemented) As compared to reforms designed by judges (which change nothing) –The trap of pilot programs As compared to gradual reforms

Problems… Implementation: –Inadequate Leadership: Problems with judicial government Co-opting by the leaders of judicial systems –Lack of political support: Disappearance of original sources of support, such as the government, parliament, media and civil society (Who is the client?) –Lack of information, monitoring and evaluation

JSCA’s Contribution JSCA has made a great deal of progress in technical aspects over the past few years by working with justice sector institutions. Value is placed on an empirical discourse that addresses management and structural issues that are key to the reforms’ success. This has allowed us to make progress in specific “reform” programs in several countries in the region. However, political support for these processes is weak, and they are not always priorities in the face of contingency. This leads to a failure to promote the normative changes that are needed and, especially, to their abandonment following initial problems. This leaves the initiatives without funding except for international cooperation.