Photo by Dr Luis Eslava of the main chamber of the Constitutional Convention
Dr Luis Eslava, Reader in international law, has been in Chile working on a project conducted under the Ruptures21 initiative (directed by Luis himself), with funding from Kent, University of Lund and Universidad Diego Portales working on the drafting of the Chilean constitution. Luis was invited to contribute based on his expertise and research in international law, international human rights law and international development. This new constitutional is hoped will replace its 1980 constitution passed under Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship, and its economic and human rights restrictive agenda. The new constitutional text is being produced by a Constitutional Assembly that brings together 154 democratically elected members. The Assembly is the first fully paritarian organ of its kind and it brings representatives from all regions and Indigenous peoples and nations across Chile. The new constitution will need to pass a yes/no plebiscite on 4 September 2022. Following on from this, there will be a need for public engagement work to explain the new constitution, the new institutional environment (whatever the result), and the use of new mechanisms of democratic participation.
Through Luis’s work Kent is at forefront of debates in Chile, Luis is serving as an advisor of a member of the Constitutional Assembly during the final production of the new constitutional text and is supporting widespread public engagement with the constitutional process via a series of videos produced under the project New Constitutional Futures. These videos are being produced in collaboration with the local civil society organisation ConstiTú+Yo, film artists, and local academics.
The current constitutional process in Chile is a clear instance of socio-legal justice and transformation, with clear national, regional and international dimensions. Funded by GCRF, a research documentary about Luis’s work in Chile, highlighting the involvement of Kent researchers in solving global challenges is currently being commissioned by The University of Kent Research Excellence Team, in collaboration with KMTV.
Congratulations to Luis on this achievement.