Chairs:

• Joaquín Garzón: joaquin.garzon@javeriana.edu.co
• Sabrina Ragone: sabrina.ragone2@unibo.it
• Pablo Saavedra Alessandri: pablosaavedra@corteidh.or.cr
• Miriam Henríquez Viñas: mhenriqu@uahurtado.cl

Judicial independence is a structural pillar sustaining the Rule of Law, democracy, and human rights. Across Latin America and Europe, both external independence (protection from interference by other branches of government or private interests) and internal independence (autonomy within the judiciary itself) face increasing pressures. These threats arise from authoritarian currents, populist governments, and the political instrumentalisation of judicial appointment, promotion, and removal processes.

This workshop will explore how these challenges manifest in diverse constitutional settings, drawing on comparative experiences from both continents. Case studies—ranging from Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, and Mexico to Hungary, Poland, and Spain—illustrate how judicial independence is weakened through mechanisms such as executive dominance in appointments, the politicisation of judicial councils, opacity in promotions, or constitutional reforms curtailing tenure and retirement ages.

At the same time, participants will examine how democratic resilience is expressed through adaptive responses: constitutional counter-reforms, decisions of constitutional courts, compliance with international rulings (Inter-American Court of Human Rights, European Court of Human Rights, Court of Justice of the EU), and broader strategies that reinforce judicial independence as part of regional legal cultures.