COMMUNITY JUSTICE IN LATIN AMERICA: REMNANT OF THE PAST OR BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE?

Community structures, including community justice bodies, keep on playing
significant role in socio-political systems of Latin American countries, where the
institutions of the state are not developed enough to undertake completely for socioregulative
functions. The article analyzes the communities’ participation in
maintaining social order and administering justice, suggests a typology of
communities and sources of law applied by their justice bodies and demonstrates the
process of transformation of traditional social structures into those of civil society.