In its recent Report on the Use of Pretrial Detention in the Americas (launched on January 17, 2014) the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) sites one of the main causes for excessive use of pretrial detention is the pressures that state officials—from the Executive and the Legislature as well as from the judiciary itself—exert on judges to drive them into deciding on prison above other alternative measures for any person accused of a crime. From this conclusion, the report advises States to “refrain from issuing opinions that directly and publicly reprimand prosecutors, judges and public defenders for decisions concerning pretrial detention.”  It also recommends that States not use disciplinary control mechanisms as a “means of pressure or punishment against judicial authorities who issue decisions on pretrial detention in accordance with the law,” and to improve judicial communication policies so as to make judicial functions and decisions more understandable.

The Commission’s report picks up on the proposals put forth in Insufficient Judicial Independence, Distorted Pretrial Detention: The Case of Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, a DPLF publication presented in a hearing held on March 16 2013, that comprises four national reports prepared by the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS), the Center for Law, Justice and Society (Dejusticia), the Center on Law and Society (CIDES), the Institute for legal Defense (IDL) of Peru, and a comparative analysis by DPLF Senior Fellow Luis Pásara.

It also includes the major concerns laid out in a hearing held on November 1, 2012 by several of the organizations, DPLF included, which make up the Regional Network for Pretrial Justice in Latin America. Together with other members of the Network, DPLF will promote implementation in specific countries of the recommendations put forth in the Commission’s Report, with the goal of making progress towards greater judicial independence that secures the use of pretrial detention only in exceptional circumstances and only for preventative purposes.Report on the Use of Pretrial Detention in the Americas

Acces our Report on the Use of Pretrial Detention in the Americas here (Available in Spanish)

Access information about our Pretrail Detention hearings here

Read the full IACHR report here (Available in Spanish)