The System of Justice

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to review the main characteristics, problems and institutions of the Colombian system of justice. For analytical clarity, this chapter is divided into five main sections. The first section briefly discusses the judiciary’s historical characteristics, inherited from the colonial period as in most Latin American countries. This section provides a base for understanding the roots of many of the problems faced by the Colombian judiciary. The second section analyses three of the main features of the Colombian system of justice which have greatly limited its function and led to its poor outcomes: (1) clientelism; (2) its fiscal dependence; and (3) the constant reformism and exceptionalism of the criminal jurisdiction. These features are also related to the historical characteristics of the system. In the third section, the general and recurrent problems of the criminal system of justice are discussed. The fourth section discusses the present-day potential of the main institutions of the system of justice, placing particular emphasis on judicial independence — something which was enhanced by the 1991 Constitution. Some of the drawbacks of the 1991 Constitutional reform, in relation to the administration of justice, are also examined — in particular the ban on extradition, the limited role of the National Police in the control of crime, and the excessive number of judicial institutions and their frequent collusion with one another.