Most people believe that criminal justice in Colombia is rife with impunity and corruption. Elvira Maria Restrepo delves beneath such beliefs to reveal a system driven at a fundamental level by fear and distrust from outside the system itself.

Most people believe that criminal justice in Colombia is rife with impunity and corruption. Elvira Maria Restrepo delves beneath such beliefs to reveal a system driven at a fundamental level by fear and distrust from outside the system itself. With the present difficulties in the country tantamount to a state of irregular war, the judiciary is in crisis. It has to contribute to the construction of peace and the reconstruction of trust, or perish.

List of Tables and Charts - Preface - Acronyms - Introduction - PART I: OVERVIEW OF THE POLITICAL AND JUDICIAL SYSTEMS - The Political Background - The System of Justice - PART II: CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN CRISIS - Performance of the System of Justice - Fear to Accuse and Fear to Prosecute - Judicial Corruption: Heroes and Villains - PART III: FEAR AND DISTRUST - Impact of Drug Trafficking in Judicial Institutions - Justice in a Country with an Irregular War - References - Bibliography - Charts and Maps - Index -