The Use and Reform of Military Justice in Brazil, the Southern Cone and Mexico

Written By: Anthony Pereira
DRCLAS Working Paper: 1999-2000 - 2

Where crimes are judged is an important issue for democracy. Since courts are charged with the responsibility of enforcing citizens' rights, the particular jurisdiction of different courts - and the recent record of those courts in upholding rights - fundamentally affects democratic citizenship. While several recent studies have recognized the importance of courts to democracy (Cohen and Arato 1992; Domínguez and Giraldo 1996; Holston and Caldeira 1998; Linz and Stepan 1996; O'Donnell 1997; Stotzky 1993), few have looked at the history of specific courts in upholding or denying certain kinds of rights. This paper does so by looking at military courts.
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