Prosecutors as rule of law gatekeepers in contemporary Latin America: A survey

This chapter surveys and evaluates the prosecutors’ offices of Latin America, a crucial but neglected component of the region's justice systems. From the practical standpoint of development policy analysis, what most matters is not abstract “rule of law” provisions, but the tangible procedures determining which legal violations are subject to prompt and reliable corrective enforcement (and which are not). Enforcement requires prosecutorial action, but these prosecutors are typically overburdened and cross-pressured. As the gatekeepers of the justice system, they possess considerable discretionality, and serve as the filter for deciding the urgency and priority of items on the prosecutorial agenda. The chapter provides an original and up-to-date overview of the highly diverse practices on display across the region. It documents the structural capacities and limitations of these institutions and their pivotal roles in the overall provision of justice. Some policy areas are relatively well served, but delivery is typically patchy and erratic, subject to distortions and perhaps even capture by vested interests. When most citizens have little access and their justice needs are sidelined, the consequence can be a reduction in trust in the rule of law as a whole and to incentivize resort to extra-legal alternative remedies.