The Americas | Injudicious judges

Central America’s legal systems are increasingly corrupt

In Guatemala alone some 15 legal officials have been forced to flee in the past year

Erika Aifán, forced to flee
|Guatemala City

“THE LAW IS a business,” says Juan, a 34-year-old who sells legal documents, including copies of the constitution, on a busy street opposite Guatemala’s highest court. “The laws I sell don’t apply; rather those with money get their way.” It is a common view in a country in which gun-toting men sometimes guard judicial offices, ostensibly to protect their inhabitants.

This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline “Injudicious judges”

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