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The Emergence and Decline of the Cuban Popular Tribunals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

Luis Salas
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Abstract

Cuban popular courts have been a subject of widespread interest among Western scholars. This paper analyzes the factors which led to the development of this judicial experiment as well as the reasons for its demise. The success or failure of this experiment was closely tied to long-term economic and political goals of the Cuban government, which eventually came to require an institutionalized bureaucratic cadre to operate its judicial system. This shift doomed the popular courts and led to the emergence of the legal profession as one of the most influential groups within Cuban society.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 17 , Issue 4 , 1983 , pp. 587 - 612
Copyright
Copyright © 1983 The Law and Society Association.

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Footnotes

*

This paper has been revised several times. I would like to express my appreciation to Mark Szuchman for his encouragement and comments on earlier drafts and to Richard Lempert for his editorial suggestions and patience.

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