{"id":25644,"date":"2026-09-24T13:27:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T17:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/?p=25644"},"modified":"2026-09-24T17:31:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T21:31:47","slug":"un-special-rapporteurs-dialogue-judicial-reform-in-bolivia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/2026\/09\/24\/un-special-rapporteurs-dialogue-judicial-reform-in-bolivia\/","title":{"rendered":"UN Special Rapporteur\u2019s Academic Visit Opens Dialogue on Judicial Reform in Bolivia"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><i>During her visit to La Paz and Sucre, Margaret Satterthwaite engaged with government officials, judges, universities, and civil society organizations. DPLF accompanied these meetings as part of its ongoing analysis and dialogue on judicial reform in Bolivia.<\/i><i><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Due Process of Law Foundation (DPLF) accompanied Margaret Satterthwaite, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, during her academic visit to Bolivia in September 2026. The visit created opportunities to discuss the challenges facing Bolivia\u2019s justice system and the safeguards judges and justices need to perform their duties independently and impartially.<\/p>\n<p>DPLF\u2019s involvement builds on its sustained work in the country, including its monitoring of the judicial elections <a href=\"https:\/\/dplf.org\/elecciones-judiciales-en-bolivia-aprendimos-la-leccion\/\">held in 2011 and 2017<\/a>. In 2024, it joined a technical mission that examined the selection process for senior judicial authorities and the state of judicial independence. The mission\u2019s findings and recommendations were published in the report <em><a href=\"https:\/\/dplf.org\/ni-elecciones-judiciales-integrales-ni-reforma-de-la-justicia-en-bolivia\/\">Neither Full Judicial Elections nor Justice Reform in Bolivia<\/a><\/em>. In 2026, DPLF, together with Fundaci\u00f3n Observatorio de Derechos Humanos y Justicia, advanced a <a href=\"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/2026\/04\/29\/independent-group-of-jurists-promotes-multisectoral-dialogue-for-judicial-reform-in-bolivia\/\">multi stakeholder dialogue agenda with the Independent Group of Jurists<\/a> to build consensus around comprehensive reform of the justice system.<\/p>\n<p>During her visit, Special Rapporteur Satterthwaite met with the vice minister of Transparency, Legal Certainty, and Public Integrity; the vice minister of Foreign Affairs; the president of the Chamber of Senators; the Ombudsperson; and representatives of the Supreme Court of Justice, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/p\/19g4c9EzNC\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Plurinational Constitutional Court<\/a>, the State School for Judges, the Council of the Magistracy, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/p\/1JQG2DdDDh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Agro-Environmental Court<\/a>. She also spoke with human rights advocacy organizations and international cooperation agencies.<\/p>\n<p>The Special Rapporteur was invited to Bolivia to deliver the lecture <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/v\/17YR4xa8Hy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><em>Judicial Reform and Independence<\/em><\/a>, organized by the Bolivian Catholic University, Fundaci\u00f3n Construir, and DPLF in La Paz and Sucre. In both cities, she also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/p\/1F3m5iKwuf\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">met with judges<\/a> for discussions titled \u201cJudicial Independence: International Standards and Good Practices.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At these events, Satterthwaite presented her most recent report, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.un.org\/en\/A\/HRC\/62\/43\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Principles for Judicial Appointments<\/a><\/em>, which brings together international standards for judicial selection and appointment and offers specific recommendations on electing judges by popular vote. The report warns that systems based on popular elections may expose judges to the dynamics of political campaigns and electoral accountability, thereby weakening both the conditions for and the perception of impartiality and independence. It therefore recommends abandoning systems that subject judicial appointments to electoral dynamics or direct partisan control and strengthening independent bodies that assess candidates on merit through procedures that prevent undue influence from political or other special interests.<\/p>\n<p>The Special Rapporteur stressed that any constitutional or judicial reform in Bolivia must strengthen the independence and impartiality of those who administer justice. For DPLF, dialogue among public officials, the judiciary, academia, and civil society contributes to an informed debate that reflects diverse perspectives on the changes Bolivia\u2019s justice system needs to strengthen democratic institutions and the rule of law.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 33%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-25644 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-medium'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"159\" 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DPLF accompanied these meetings as part of its ongoing analysis and dialogue on judicial reform in Bolivia. &nbsp; The Due Process of Law Foundation (DPLF) accompanied Margaret Satterthwaite, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":25647,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[681],"tags":[],"country":[888,890],"issue":[862,864],"program":[872],"resource":[1013,1014,896],"class_list":["post-25644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","country-america-del-sur","country-bolivia","issue-justice-reforms","issue-selection-of-judicial-authorities","program-judicial-independence","resource-featured","resource-dplf-updates","resource-press-releases"],"acf":{"boton_1":"Leer en espa\u00f1ol","url_boton_1\u00ba":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/visita-relatora-independencia-judicial-dialogo-reforma-justicia-en-bolivia\/","boton_2":"","url_boton_2":"","boton_3":"","url_boton_3":"","boton_4":"","url_boton_4":"","boton_5":"","url_boton_5":"","boton_6":"","url_boton_6":"","boton_7":"","url_boton_7":"","boton_8":"","url_boton_8":"","boton_9":"","url_boton_9":"","boton_10":"","url_boton_10":""},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Conferencia-Academica-Relatora-Margaret-Satterthwaite-Bolivia-La-Paz.jpeg?fit=1280%2C576&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25644"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25644"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25649,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25644\/revisions\/25649"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25644"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=25644"},{"taxonomy":"issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue?post=25644"},{"taxonomy":"program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program?post=25644"},{"taxonomy":"resource","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource?post=25644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}