Prosecutorial Accountability and Victims' Rights in Latin America

The responsibility of any state is to protect its citizens. But if a state, either through omission or commission, fails to investigate and prosecute crime then what remedies do citizens have? Verónica Michel investigates procedural rights in Chile, Guatemala, and Mexico that allow citizens to call for the appointment of a private prosecutor to initiate criminal investigations. This right diminishes the monopoly of the state over criminal prosecutions and thus offers citizens a way of insisting on state accountability. This book provides the first full-length empirical study of how the victims' right to private prosecution can impact access to justice in Latin America, and shows how institutional and legal arrangements interact to shape the politics of criminal justice. By examining homicide cases in detail, Michel highlights how everyday legal struggles can help build the rule of law from below.

Verónica Michel is Assistant Professor of Political Science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York. Her article 'Human Rights Prosecutions and the Participation Rights of Victims in Latin America' (co-authored with Kathryn Sikkink, Law and Society Review) received the 2014 Best Journal Article Award from the Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association.