Аннотация: 0.39 percent. A judicial reform in Bolivia. A brief review.
0.39 percent. A judicial reform in Bolivia. A brief review.
A very interesting material was published in the Spanish-language newspaper Página Siete (La Paz, Bolivia // Copyright 2021 www.paginasiete.bo):
What does Bolivian justice look like after reform failure? 14 February 2021 05: 02 Fernando Chavez Virreira, journalist. (¿Cómo queda la justicia boliviana después del fracaso de la reforma? 14 de febrero de 2021 05:02, Fernando Chávez Virreira, Periodista) (https://www.paginasiete.bo/ideas/2021/2/14/como -queda-la-justicia-boliviana-despues-del-fracaso-de-la-reforma-284258.html).
We didn't plan to write a big review of this material. First, the translation can distort the meaning - in some cases. Secondly, a large review requires a familiarity with the details, with the history of the process.
However, the material is so interesting that we cannot but cite a number of fragments from this material.
In all cases, the translation from Spanish into Russian and from Russian into English is unofficial.
'... The allocation of budget funds for the judiciary... in recent years has decreased to 0.39% of the total state budget,... hinders the introduction of new specialized courts, equipping with proper infrastructure, equipment and necessary materials.
In the Latin American context, Paraguay devotes 2 percent of its budget to justice; Honduras - 4 percent; Guatemala - 5 percent. "In Bolivia, budget allocations are 0.39%, which does not allow to ensure the number of judges required to serve a very high procedural flow. There are 186 judges throughout the country, (...); some have been removed, and this with a procedural flow exceeding 378 thousand cases per year, 'Rivera [el doctor José Rivera] sums up.
"In a constitutional legal state, it is inconceivable that they cut the budget and force to reduce the salaries of judges, since in this way the executive and legislative powers undermine the independence of the judge. The judiciary must have economic and budgetary independence, and it is the judiciary that must make up a budget that the executive must respect and to hand to the legislature for approval, 'he [Rivera] adds.
I draw the attention of readers to the term "economic and budgetary independence of the judiciary."
'Apart from the budget, justice is facing an institutional crisis. "Bolivia, like many countries in the region, has a high level of social conflict, which is not governed by the state through politics, which leads to extreme judiciary of social relations [judicial nature of public relations] [a la judicialización extrema de las relaciones sociales], and even the smallest cases are sending (and end up) in courts with a high costs, obstructing and delaying justice." he [Rivera] explains to.
Justice is extremely centralized and procedural flows are not properly distributed, some municipalities do not have judges, others have a low flow, where judges issue 20 to 30 sentences per year, and in department capitals, judges issue 300 to 400 sentences. "
I would like to draw the readers' attention to such a concept as "the extreme judiciary of social relations [judicial nature of public relations] [a la judicialización extrema de las relaciones sociales]."
"According to Alarcon," ... they again need, as Evo Morales did, an obedient and submissive judicial and prosecutorial system (...) to re-create a scenario of criminalization and persecution of the opposition. (...) ", says Alarcon [El diputado de Comunidad Ciudadana Carlos Alarcón]."
A very interesting material. Fernando Chávez Virreira quotes lawyers, deputies, former officials ...
The level at which the material is submitted prompts the desire that both the author himself and those whom he quotes should be among leaders of judicial reform ...
I did not see any references to a jury trial in this material.
Fernando Chávez Virreira has published a very interesting high-level work.
February 15, 2021 15:28
Translation from Russian into English: February 15, 2021 16:41.
Владимир Владимирович Залесский '0,39 процента. Судебная реформа в Боливии. Краткая рецензия'.