Envisioning Reform: Conceptual and Practical Obstacles to Improving Judicial Performance in Latin AmericaJudicial reform became an important part of the agenda for development in Latin America early in the 1980s, when countries in the region started the process of democratization. Connections began to be made between judicial performance and market-based growth, and development specialists turned their attention to “second generation” institutional reforms. Although considerable progress has been made already in strengthening the judiciary and its supporting infrastructure (police, prosecutors, public defense counsel, the private bar, law schools, and the like), much remains to be done. Linn Hammergren’s book aims to turn the spotlight on the problems in the movement toward judicial reform in Latin America over the past two decades and to suggest ways to keep the movement on track toward achieving its multiple, though often conflicting, goals. After Part I’s overview of the reform movement’s history since the 1980s, Part II examines five approaches that have been taken to judicial reform, tracing their intellectual origins, historical and strategic development, the roles of local and international participants, and their relative success in producing positive change. Part III builds on this evaluation of the five partial approaches by offering a synthetic critique aimed at showing how to turn approaches into strategies, how to ensure they are based on experiential knowledge, and how to unite separate lines of action. |
From inside the book
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... additional reasons for advancing in this area. On the judges' side, there was a sincere or calculated interest in improving their image and overcoming the impression that they served only the elites. Judiciaries in many countries began ...
... addition, some measures to improve criminal justice procedures (the use of abbreviated trials or plea bargaining) or enhance access (via alternative mechanisms) would face their own constitutional challenges. Finally, once the genii was ...
... additional legal details, and a general lack of professionalism on the part of many of the actors led to very different results. First, in many countries, the process was less complex and enjoyed fewer safeguards than in the continental ...
... additional details of the criminal and criminal procedures codes posed significant problems. Rules concerning compulsory pretrial detention (often for any crime with a penalty in excess of three years) and their exaggerated application ...
... addition of the crime control objectives. Instead, backers of the codes simply tacked on this second goal, claiming ... additional needs were never taken into account in any more specific fashion. Over time the code-driven strategy has ...
Other editions - View all
Envisioning Reform: Improving Judicial Performance in Latin America Linn Hammergren Limited preview - 2010 |
Envisioning Reform: Improving Judicial Performance in Latin America Linn A. Hammergren No preview available - 2007 |