Legitimacy of Community Justice. A Look From the Aymara Communities of Peru

Abstract

Objective: The objective is to identify the designation of communal authorities in the form of election, its organizational structure, its attributions, roles, functions and legitimacy in the community. Finally, to explain the prevailing norms, forms of conflict resolution within the framework of the administration of communal justice, considering as a source the cultural patterns as a mechanism of access to justice. Results: The study is carried out in the district of Chucuito, Puno, Peru, where the ancestral social political organization persists and the administration of justice is based on its cultural practice, especially rooted in the ancestral historical legacy. In the article, an analysis is made regarding the scope and limitations of the administration of community justice. Method: The method used is ethnographic-qualitative. In the procedural aspect, it was carried out through the analysis of the Communal Minutes Book, where the cases dealt with in the communal assemblies are recorded. Observation guides and in-depth interviews were used as research instruments. The field work was carried out following a program of visits coordinated with the communal authorities for a period of one year. Conclusions: The ancestral practices of justice administration are in force in the Aymara communities practiced by the families of the community and authorities, mainly Lieutenant Governors, based on custom, ancestral traditions and the legitimacy attributed to them by the community population, and they seek to lay the foundations for the understanding and incorporation to the official state justice spheres.