NCJ Number
136231
Date Published
1991
Length
107 pages
Annotation
This monograph examines the critical problems which the Nicaraguan criminal justice system faces during the transition from a dictatorship to a democratic form of government.
Abstract
The justice system is a complex apparatus which encompasses the legislative branch, the police, prosecutors, the judiciary and the legal profession, and the legal defense and criminal procedure. Each of these is described individually with particular reference to their role in the criminal justice system regarding regulations, institutions, and formal and informal processes. A historical overview of Nicaraguan politics covers the period before Sandinistas, the period under Sandinistas including the revolutionary order, the administration of justice, Contra diplomacy and economic embargo, and the peace process with the 1990 elections and the Chamorro government. The report evaluates the Nicaraguan justice sector with focus on general problems such as normative reforms, including modernization of codes and social and political issues. Other principles requiring implementation include judicial independence, justice system access, and principles as conditioned by a series of factors: public knowledge of the law, public confidence, costs, location and number of courts, and the efficiency with which the courts process cases. Also discussed are the need for respect of human rights and the foreign economic assistance.