ABSTRACT
Three decades ago Latin American judiciaries, especially superior courts, tended to act as political cyphers exercising little independence from their executive branch, or as supine institutions with no discernible political function and attracted little interest from academics. These newly assertive courts are willing and able to act as independent accountability agents regulating executive and legislative power and adjudicating the constitutionality of laws, decrees, and regulations. Simultaneously, some superior courts have also breathed new life into previously non-justiciable constitutional rights and now routinely protect the rights of even the most vulnerable, politically, and socially marginalized citizens. A review of existing literature highlights different approaches to understanding the role of courts over the last 30 years. Examples from a wide range of judicialized political practices are used to examine the transformation of courts and their impact on law-making processes, judicial outcomes, and the role of some courts in the advancement of constitutional rights of some of the most vulnerable sectors of society. The final sections investigate the nascent backlash against the expanding role of courts, especially with respect to decisions that expand and protect economic, social, and cultural rights and the authors highlight the real danger of political capture of superior courts that can undermine fragile democracies.
