El Tribunal Constitucional como mecanismo (in)formal de impunidad

The recent Chilean experience of accountability, particularly the prosecution of direct perpetrators, has had to overcome various obstacles such as amnesty, statutory limitations, and the existence of a court addicted to the military regime. But, since 2015 the Chilean Constitucional Court began to emerge as a mechanism to obstruct the progress of human rights trials. This has been noted by the defenses, which have sent almost sixty cases to the tribunal. These cases have shown excessive delays, sui generis interpretations, a very low admissibility standard, and even interference with the faculties of the Chilean Supreme Court, being the most flagrant example the “Cerro Moreno” Case. This paper argues that this practice of the court, contradicting its resolutions of the 2005-2015 period, violates various international obligations, constituting a true mechanism of impunity, and will discuss the ways to overcome this.