More Democracy in the Face of the Judicialization of Conflicts? Democratizing Reforms of Justice in Argentina (2003-2019)

This paper traces the emergence of a new orientation in the reformist agenda of the Judiciary in Argentina aimed at the democratization of the justice system. Originated at a time of expansion of the political arena and growth of the judicial arena (20032013), democratizing justice is an aspiration in which diverse proposals and actors converge in the face of the growing judicialization of conflicts. We analyze three policies of reform of the judicial system, emanating from the three branches of the national State, between 2003 and 2019: the incorporation, by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, of mechanisms for citizen participation in the judicial process; the service of Access to Justice Centers, created within the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights of the Nation; and Law 26855 (repealed), which incorporates universal suffrage in the election of councilors of the Council of the Magistratura, popularly known as the law of democratization of justice.