Amid the fanfare surrounding the appointment of new Supreme Court justices, as if it were a cure-all, no mention has been made of deeper, more structural changes. It is overlooked that the justice system is comprised not only of judges, but also of prosecutors, inspectors, public defenders, court staff, lawyers, and the citizens who participate in it. Furthermore, little or nothing can be accomplished without the minimum resources and material conditions necessary for its proper functioning.
Has anyone been to the Palace of Justice in Caracas? It houses both the ordinary and specialized criminal courts. East 8th Avenue, from Santa Teresa to Cruz Verde, is a veritable maze of stalls, street vendors, and makeshift shops, making pedestrian and vehicular traffic unbearable—even unsafe. But what's even more paradoxical is that on the south side of the ground floor of this grotesque, dysfunctional, and half-finished building, there are more than twenty hardware stores, doubling down on the trinkets. As if that weren't enough, a large informal market is attached to it. This is supposed to be the place for businesses that provide services to lawyers and users, such as robe rentals, copy centers, printing and internet access, cafes, bookstores, and offices connected to the judicial system.
The responsibility for the use of that building lies with the Executive Directorate of the Judiciary. The north side is occupied in deplorable conditions by the Simón Bolívar Geographical Institute of Venezuela, a setting more befitting a dystopian location, and where courts should also be operating. This is to say nothing of the hardships endured by workers and users in that uncomfortable building. It's disgraceful. Urban chaos affects human behavior, chronically altering the nervous system, transforming social interactions, and increasing levels of aggression, isolation, and stress.
The corollary of this pandemonium leads to a poor little island to the east where a bust, a replica of a larger sculpture by Pietro Ceccarelli, was randomly placed. This sculpture is located in the atrium of the Caracas Bar Association headquarters and depicts the "Venezuelan Lycurgus," Manuel José Sanz, a jurist, politician, journalist, and ideologue of Venezuelan independence. The bust serves as a coat rack for the street vending that is rampant in that area.
