The Elusive Quest for the Rule of Law: Promoting Judicial Reform in Latin America

Abstract

Strengthening the rule of law and adequately reforming judicial institutions havebecome core objectives of policymakers in developing countries and transition economies. They have also become, in the course of the 1990s, a major concern of international financial institutions and donor governments in their efforts to promotedemocracy abroad. Yet, the political economy of judicial reform remains largelyunder-studied and significantly under-theorized (Messick, 1999; Dodson, 2002).Moreover, the assistance provided by multilateral institutions and donor agencieshas also received scant attention. In recent years, however, the promotion of judicial reform is receiving greater scrutiny, as donor organizations seek to evaluate the impact of their interventions.