Within the area of justice, PASOC considers that the ‘Accord on the Strengthening of Civilian Power and the Role of the Armed Forces in a Democratic Society’ and the recommendations of the Commission to Strengthen the Rule of Law still represent major challenges for the Guatemalan society.

More than promoting new laws and reforms in the justice system, PASOC favors creative initiatives to apply measures which effectively grant access to justice. The rule of law in Guatemala is still very fragile, and of particular concern is the lack of access to justice for the most vulnerable: women and the indigenous population. The Accord on the Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization promote customary law, and various Mayan organizations in Guatemala have taken initiatives to systematize the use of Mayan practices and to foment judicial pluralism. This means on one hand an improved access to formal justice and on the other hand validating proper means of conflict resolution.

PASOC has chosen to emphasize the issue of Mayan law. During the armed conflict, Mayan authorities were to a great extent eliminated and replaced by military authorities. Given the serious absence of judiciary authorities in indigenous communities, the overwhelming amount of pending cases in the courts, and crisis in the penitentiary system, alternative conflict resolution by means of Mayan law constitutes a complementary support to the official justice system. The rehabilitation of these forms of resolving conflicts is attractive for a population with little resources: It is participatory, free of charge and oral in the language of the community. The cases treated by customary law are generally regarded as cases that do not need to be solved in a court. In cases of sentences, the defendant will have to repair damages caused to the victims or the community.

Since the start of the program, efforts to systematize and apply Mayan law has been stimulated in various linguistic communities and reveals an interest on the part of the Mayan youth to recuperate and document the knowledge of the traditional authorities. Besides the publications of each organization and the concrete activities to resolve conflicts, the systematization of these advances is done in coordination with the sub-commission on Access to Justice of the National Commission to Support and Follow-up on the Strengthening of the Rule of Law. Access to justice is also being achieved through orientation, advice, and by means of legal interpreters and support documents in Mayan languages.

During PROFED-OSC, the program supported a project to train officials of the Prosecutor’s Office on the content and application of the Law on Domestic Violence, in this way improving the access to justice for women. Support was continued to the Myrna Mack Foundation which not only continues its struggle against impunity, but also has been an important partner for the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers. The programme has also promoted academic courses on indigenous justice for justice operators. Another important dimension is indigenous law related to the collective use of natural resources, which has led to important results with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and the National Council on Protected Areas.