Abstract

REVELO-REBOLLEDO, Javier. La independencia judicial en tiempos de Uribe : Judicial Independence during the Uribe era. Pap.polit. [online]. 2008, vol.13, n.1, pp.53-94. ISSN 0122-4409.

In constitutional states, Judicial Independence is an important safeguard to protect society against the abuses of political power. However, president Uribe’s recent meddling in the work of the Supreme Court of Justice has shown the need for an analysis of the situation of Judicial Independence throughout his two administrations. The scarcity of studies in the field of Political Science treating the Judicial Branch as a state power evidences that the analytical potential provided by this discipline has been ignored. The Colombian case shows that, in addition to normative factors, judicial independence is determined by power relations. In this logic, the situation of Judicial Independence in Colombia can be explained by the impact of the immediate presidential reelection (as a political regime variable), and by Uribismo’s reluctant position vis-à-vis normative controls and its defense of the Democratic Security policy above and beyond the Judicial Power (as government related variables). From this, it is possible to conclude that the Colombian Judiciary enjoys the Judicial Independence that politicians are willing to grant it, although this is not conducive to the development of the Rule of Law in Colombia

Keywords : Judicial Independence; Politic of Democratic Security; Reelection; Álvaro Uribe; Judicial Power; Colombia; Uribe Vélez Álvaro; 1952; Political thought; Colombia; Política y gobierno.

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