The relationship between justice and politics in chile. Unveiling reality behind the myth

Abstract

This article discuss some mythology about the way in which the relationship between Justice and Politics has been resolved in Chile in the last half century. It is uncritically accepted that, unlike other countries in the region, Chile has resolved the separation Justice and Politics in classic terms of strict division of powers, where each sphere of constitutional power acts within the scope of its powers and attributions, far from the danger that always haunts constitutional theory of possible "politicization of justice" or "judicialization of politics". This article demonstrates that Chile has constitutionally consecrated a separation of powers model that encapsulates the judicial activity to the scope of the solution of controversies of juridical scope, distancing it from the Politics as a space of discussion of power. More, in practice there has been and there is a more complex relationship between Justice and Politics, with a mutual influence that has exceeded - legitimately and illegitimately - by far the traditional model of separation of powers.