A total of 42 organizations participated in the report representing 17 countries, namely: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Nearly all of the countries in the region suspended or limited judicial activities, which meant that citizens did not have adequate means to channel their disputes. The authors focused on the lack of access and availability of justice services in this context.

In most of the countries, judicial activities were reduced to a “minimum level of service” without an increase in judiciaries’ capacity to respond to the additional demand produced by COVID-19.

Use of ICTs has accelerated and expanded due to the pandemic in judiciaries throughout the region, though only seven countries adopted a differential approach designed to reduce the digital divide.

Constitutional states of emergency were issued in 12 of the 17 countries analyzed, and Executive Branches began to consolidate functions. Judicial functions were suspended in eight countries.

The judiciaries responded in a limited way to the need to generate organizational changes and innovations, and they were perceived by survey respondents as ineffective when it came to resolving disputes generated due to the pandemic.

The pandemic exacerbated the barriers that prevent at-risk groups from accessing justice services. Free legal assistance was impacted by the suspension of justice services and changes in the approaches used to provide them.