Description
Book SynopsisThis study describes a Latin American legal system which punishes only the poor and a ""democratic"" state which fails to control its own agents' arbitrary practices. The contributors argue that judicial reform cannot be seperated from human rights and that justice must be made available to the poor.
Trade Review“This book is an excellent compilation of work by today’s foremost scholars and activists in human rights in Latin America. These authors offer a thoughtful account of some of the most pressing problems in the region—including lack of accountability, police brutality, and the need for judicial reform—and provide a compelling debate on how to improve the promotion of human rights in the hemisphere.” —José Miguel Vivanco, Executive Director, Americas Division, Human Rights Watch
“Anyone who assumes that redemocratization has done much to advance the rule of law must consult the papers in this collection. . . This volume does not explain, it describes and prescribes but does so richly and soberly. A fine acquisition for all academic collections.” —Choice
“The (Un)Rule of Law is a thorough and incisive examination of the aftereffects of democratization in Latin America. The diversity of viewpoints presented constitutes an excellent contribution to the continuing dialogue on the promotion and institutionalization of human rights in the region.” —Journal of International Law and Politics
“The (Un)Rule of Law features excellent essays on groups that are discriminated against in Latin America, including blacks, indegenous peoples, and women.” —Latin American Research Review
“The essays collected in Mendez et al. About the “(un)rule of law” and the underprivileged in Latin America make sober reading. But while the specific problems they address about access to justice, racial and gender discrimination, discrimination against indigenous peoples, the role of the police, reform of the judiciary, pockets where the violence of the street rules rather than the law, are writ large in Latin America, they are-at the least-writ small in North America.” —International Journal of Constitutional Law
