Pablo Echeverri (Duquesne University School of Law; Robbins Collection – Berkeley Law) has posted The Last Grand Inquisitor (88 UMKC L. REV. __ (2020, Forthcoming)) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
How should constitutional democracies hold their public officials accountable without upsetting the separation of powers? This article adopts a comparative perspective to offer a critique of Colombia’s excessively powerful disciplinary watchdog: The Inspector General of the Nation (Procurador General de la Nación). Using basic separation of powers principles distilled from the much-criticized Morrison v. Olson case, the article builds an analytical framework to evaluate the vast disciplinary powers of the Inspector General’s Office (“IGO”), which include the removal and disqualification of elected officials through inquisitorial administrative proceedings. Without resorting to any sort of legal imperialism, it argues that the Inspector General’s disciplinary authority places the IGO as a co-equal branch of power, which threatens the stability of Colombia’s separation of powers structure. After analyzing (1) the IGO’s excessive structural independence from the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, (2) its alarmingly vast personal jurisdiction across all branches of government, and (3) the co-governing breadth of its substantive disciplinary power, the article concludes that the IGO, in its current state, is an affront to the basic principles of the separation of powers. It then offers reform suggestions that can allow the IGO to fulfill its oversight mission without disturbing the balance of powers.