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Accountable Institutions: Reforming Justice in Guatemala

Group?photo?The?National?Women’s?Forum,?the?National?Youth?Front, and?the?National?Movement?of?Victims?participating?in workshops?to?develop?a social?auditing?roadmap?based?on?their?demands.?

December 2025

A peacebuilding initiative is modernizing the judicial career system, strengthening protections for judges, and empowering more than 400 citizens to audit the justice sector in real time.

Since the signing of the Peace Accords in 1996, judicial independence has been a cornerstone of Guatemala’s efforts to consolidate the rule of law, democracy, and peace. Progress has been made — including the creation of a legal framework for the judicial career system — but significant challenges persist. Laws alone are not enough; justice operators require protection from attacks and reprisals, and civil society must have the tools to monitor institutions and demand accountability.

To address these gaps, the Peacebuilding Fund is supporting the Professionalization, Protection and Citizen Participation for a More Independent Judiciary initiative. Since 2022, UNDP, OHCHR, and UNODC have led the $2.5 million programme in coordination with the Judicial Branch, the Human Rights Ombudsperson’s Office, and civil society organizations. The project focuses on three priorities: strengthening the judicial career system, improving protection mechanisms for justice operators, and equipping social actors to defend judicial independence in line with the constitution and national laws.

Reinforcing Judicial Institutions

Photo credit: Caroline Trutmann | Youth from the National Youth Front participating in a workshop on social auditing.?

Working with the Judicial Branch the project is modernizing human resources systems, training platforms, performance evaluations, and disciplinary procedures to align them with international standards. A new course on judicial independence has been designed, approved, and rolled out to 418 judicial officials. A 270° performance evaluation system—designed to increase objectivity and reduce discretionary decision-making—was piloted with 294 staff.

More than 100 judicial independence indicators have now been adopted to strengthen monitoring of judicial conduct, and the Judicial Branch is making progress toward ISO 37001:2025 Anti-Bribery System certification. Together, these reforms reinforce the principles of independence, impartiality, competence, and diligence, while reducing opportunities for undue influence.

Protecting Justice Operators

Nevertheless, attacks against independent judges and prosecutors remain a serious threat to the rule of law. To bolster protections, the project is supporting the Human Rights Ombudsperson’s Office to enhance its monitoring capacity through an institutional Observatory and to train staff — more than 300 to date — on the use of international protection mechanisms.

Citizen Participation and Social Auditing

Photo credit: Caroline Trutmann | Representatives?of?the?National?Youth?Front,?the?National?Women’s?Forum, and?the?National?Movement?of?Victims?of?the?Internal?Armed?Conflict?jointly?reviewing?the?prioritized?social?auditing?plans.?

A central pillar of the initiative is empowering civil society to monitor institutions and advocate for judicial independence. More than 400 civil society leaders — representing victims of the internal armed conflict, women’s and youth organizations, journalists, and religious leaders — have taken part in dialogues and trainings on judicial independence and practical social auditing tools.

An online platform launched by the project compiles data on judicial independence, disseminates research, and issues alerts for justice operators facing pressure or attack. In under a year, it has received over 12,000 visits and information requests.

Citizen auditing is already yielding tangible oversight.

  • The National Victims’ Movement is auditing three cases of enforced disappearance of children from the internal armed conflict era.
  • The National Women’s Forum is auditing the Public Prosecutor’s referral network for victims of violence to identify gaps and advocate for recognition of community service providers.
  • The National Youth Front is auditing judicial responses to violence against children in Cantel, Quetzaltenango, and monitoring procedural guarantees in cases of adolescent pregnancies in Sololá.

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Civil society organizations are now coordinating monitoring, auditing, and advocacy strategies ahead of the 2026 judicial appointment process — a crucial test for judicial independence in the years ahead.

Voices from Guatemala’s Oversight Movement

Photo credit: Caroline Trutmann | Carlos Ferna?ndez,?Centre for International Investigations on Human Rights (CiiDH)?

Carlos Fernández of the International Center for Human Rights Research (CiiDH), a Human Rights Organization based in Guatemala City, underscores the importance of citizen knowledge: “It is essential for youth, women, and citizens in general to have the basic knowledge needed to conduct a social audit—not just to understand how the justice system works, but to begin shifting power toward the people. That alone can reduce impunity and increase transparency.”

Photo credit: Caroline Trutmann | Mari?a del Carmen, Camacho National Women’s Forum

María del Carmen Camacho of the National Women’s Forum highlights its ripple effects: “The knowledge I’ve gained from this workshop, I will share with the people I represent—other community leaders and representatives. I will show them how they too can approach authorities, request information, monitor institutions, and stand before judges or the Public Prosecutor’s Office without fear or intimidation.”

For survivors of past abuses, participation has become both empowering and transformative.

Photo credit: Caroline Trutmann | Elvia Guch National, Movement of Victims of the Internal Armed Conflict

Elvia Guch of the National Movement of Victims says: “These workshops have really helped us as organizations become more engaged with the justice structure. Before, I saw it as inaccessible, but CiiDH has opened doors for us to participate in training and empowerment processes—and I now see that the justice system is not as unreachable as I once thought. We can get involved.”

And for young people, understanding leads directly to agency.

Carol Ramírez of the National Youth Front reflects:“Now I understand what judicial independence means, how to defend it, and how the justice system in my country works. I’ve learned how I can contribute to small changes in my own community.”

Photo credit: Caroline Trutmann | Carol Rami?rez, National Youth Front?

Looking Ahead

Judicial independence remains one of Guatemala’s most critical challenges — essential for strengthening the rule of law, democratic governance, and peace. Through institutional reforms, protection mechanisms, and a growing movement of citizen auditors, the Peacebuilding Fund’s support is helping to build a justice system that is both independent and accountable, and that upholds the rights of all Guatemalans.