Legal Tolls and the Rule of Law: The Judicial Response to Police Kilings in South America

Abstract

This dissertation addresses core issues relating to law and democracy in Latin America. The judicial response to continuing high levels of police violence in Latin America is the empirical context used to explore the oft-mentioned but little studied gap between the law on the books and law in practice in the region. The theoretical chapter presents a model that is applicable to many of the problems usually placed under the “rule of law” rubric, while the empirical chapters contribute new information on one of the key problems faced by these legal systems, the effectiveness and enforcement of civil rights. The dissertation addresses such key themes as equality before the law, access to justice, judicial independence and legal reform.