The need for a complex judicial thought on decisions about indigenous people deprived of liberty

This article will offer a reflection on the paradigm of complexity, developed mainly by Edgar Morin, as opposed to the simplifying vision of reality, typical of the discourse of modernity and inherited by our legal systems. There will be settled the need to adopt this paradigm by legal operators, responsible for applying the legal rules on the basis of their conception of reality, especially judges. This need becomes imperative in multicultural societies, such as Chile, and in aspects especially sensitive and prone to the neglect of cultural diversity, such as prisons. In particular, it will be considered that prison is a highly assimilationist space, in which indigenous people are specially affected by a simplified vision of reality which does not meet their special needs during deprivation of liberty. The analysis of three illustrative judgements in this area will highlight the need for conceiving reality from diversity. Finally, some proposals will be made.