René Hernández Valiente, justice of El Salvador's Supreme Court, and Eduardo Dubón, deputy inspector in the National Civil Police

They call it the orphan branch of government.

In a healthy democracy, the judiciary is supposed to stand with the executive and legislative branches as one of the three pillars of government that guarantee liberty and the rule of law. But in most Latin American and Caribbean countries, the judicial pillar is fractured, weak and incapable of supporting the weight of its constitutional responsibilities.

Byzantine written procedures. Endless delays. Overcrowded jails. Unaccountable judges. Questionable rulings. Political meddling. Bribery. Impunity. Open a newspaper in Latin America today, and these are the words you will see associated with the judicial system. Year after year, public opinion polls show that the courts are the least respected institution in the region’s countries.

A recent review of these polls by Pilar Domingo, a legal scholar at the University of London, found a dismal consistency: “In Argentina, only 13 percent of the public has anything good to say about the judiciary; in Peru, 92 percent distrust the judges; in Brazil, 79 percent distrust the justice system.”

For much of this century, the dismal condition of Latin America’s courts was overshadowed by ideological wars and military dictatorships. But in recent years, as democratic stability has taken root in the region, the judiciary has become the object of relentless public scrutiny. This is partly because the rules of the game have changed. Conflicts over government policies, which were once resolved through back-room negotiations between political blocks, are now being taken to the courts. Empowered by the ratification of treaties that protect an expanded definition of human rights, individuals by the thousands are suing for redress of wrongs that in some cases are not even contemplated by their countries’ legal codes.

Landing on judicial systems that were already overburdened and vulnerable to pressure, this avalanche of litigation has provoked an institutional crisis in many countries. Almost without exception, governments in Latin America are besieged by calls to reform the courts. Numerous reform programs are currently underway, but progress has turned out to be extraordinarily difficult.

Why is it so hard to fix the courts? What are the origins of the current crisis? Can confidence in the judiciary ever be restored? This special supplement examines the case of El Salvador, a country that has embarked on one of the region’s most radical efforts to make justice work.