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Pre-trial detention and legal defence in Latin America

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 February 2021

Gustavo Fondevila Open the ORCID record for Gustavo Fondevila [Opens in a new window]  and
Miguel Quintana-Navarrete
Gustavo Fondevila*
Affiliation:
Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE), Mexico City, Mexico
Miguel Quintana-Navarrete
Affiliation:
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: gustavo.fondevila@cide.edu
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Abstract

Pre-trial detention is used extensively in Latin America as a systematic practice implemented by courts. Despite this fact, few empirical studies have analysed the role of defence attorneys in pre-trial incarceration. This paper attempts to describe the actions taken by lawyers in order to free their clients during the judicial process, using new empirical evidence collected from the incarcerated population in Argentina, Brazil, El Salvador, Chile, Mexico and Peru. Results suggest that public defenders request conditional release less frequently but do so more effectively than their private counterparts.

Keywords

pre-trial detentionlegal defenceLatin American criminal courts

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Type
Article
Information
International Journal of Law in Context , Volume 17 , Special Issue 1: Celebration of Peter Fitzpatrick and his Scholarship , March 2021 , pp. 75 - 90
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press.

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