ABSTRACT
The historically ubiquitous authoritarian regimes, usually in the form of military juntas and dictators, gradually been replaced by constitutional democracies. This process—usually referred to as the transition from authoritarianism to democracyis, however, far from complete. The role of the judiciary in the transition process is, of course, extremely complicated. The transition to democracy in Latin America is usually represented in one of two distinct stages. Indeed, this transition from dictatorship to democracy is a fragile and uncertain process, and it has met with varying degrees of success. The democratization process needs further elucidation if we are to begin to answer this question. The issue is further complicated by the fact that the concept of transition to democracy has unclear and shifting boundaries. Indeed, the very question of whether certain Latin American and European nations remain in the transition towards democracy or have already completed the journey is one which requires both empirical corroboration and conceptual clarification.
