“It’s in the law”: An ethnographic account of the effects of the introduction of lay participation on judicial bureaucracies in Greater Buenos Aires
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl.1793Keywords:
Jury trials, lay participation, ethnography, criminal justice, Argentina, juicio por jurados, participación ciudadana, etnografía, justicia penalAbstract
The province of Buenos Aires (Argentina) introduced its first criminal jury system in 2013. This article discusses the design and initial findings of an ethnographic research project looking at this legal innovation with particular attention to the effects of the introduction of new (lay) actors – and their practices, knowledges, experiences – to the criminal justice system, bringing to the analysis rules, spaces, temporalities and people that are bound by this phenomenon. Focusing on the initial stages of the process – the draw and summoning of prospective jurors and jury selection hearings –, we discuss how material and temporal constraints to fulfill the legal mandate of incorporating lay decision-makers give place to the reshaping and (re)creation of certain roles and positions within the bureaucratic structure. We argue that the jury has become a spectral presence that alters a myriad of existing practices, characters and responsibilities in the criminal justice of Buenos Aires that goes well beyond their verdicts.
En el año 2013 se estableció el juicio por jurados en la Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Este artículo provee una reflexión basada en el diseño y los primeros hallazgos de un proyecto de investigación etnográfica de largo plazo que indaga en los efectos de la incorporación al sistema de justicia penal de nuevos actores (no profesionales del derecho) con sus prácticas, saberes y experiencias, y que integra a su análisis la consideración de las normas, los espacios, las temporalidades y las personas que este fenómeno amalgama. Poniendo el foco en las etapas iniciales del juicio por jurado —las citaciones de candidatos a jurados y la audiencia de selección —buscamos discutir cómo ciertos roles y posiciones dentro de la estructura burocrática se redefinen y (re)crean a partir de condicionamientos materiales y temporales que se presentan al dar cumplimiento a la obligación legal de incorporar la participación ciudadana al proceso judicial. Nuestro argumento es que el jurado se ha vuelto una presencia inmaterial, etérea, que afecta y modifica una variedad de prácticas, piezas y responsabilidades dentro de la justicia penal de Buenos Aires, más allá de su función concreta de alcanzar un veredicto.
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