Fulbright–MinCiencias Scholar (2025–2030)

José Jans
Carretero Pardo

Lawyer (LL.M.) · PhD student in Political Science, University of Illinois Chicago · Research on Justice, Criminal Politics & Peacebuilding.

I am a PhD student in Political Science at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) and a Fulbright–MinCiencias Scholar (2025–2030). My work is amphibious — it moves between the archive and the courtroom, between constitutional theory and empirical fieldwork, between Colombia and Chicago — and draws on mixed methods, pairing qualitative research (archives, ethnography, case comparison) with quantitative analysis. After a decade of frontline legal practice at the intersection of transitional justice, human rights, and public-interest litigation, I now take up the theoretical questions that practice forced me to ask.

Research & Publications

Peer-reviewed articles, policy reports, and research datasets.

Peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, policy reports, and empirical datasets on transitional justice, state accountability for macro-criminal violence, criminal governance, and rights mobilization in conflict-to-peace transitions.

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  • MPSA 2026, Chicago · Under review
    The Systemic Research Approach: How accountability institutions’ design enables investigating state-criminal networks
  • IdeAs — Idées d'Amériques
  • FIDH & CAJAR Report
    Colombia at Risk of Impunity: Blind spots of transitional justice regarding international crimes
Advocacy & Consulting

Thirty-plus amicus curiae briefs and constitutional interventions.

Thirty-plus amicus curiae briefs and constitutional interventions filed before Colombian high courts, the Inter-American system, and the International Criminal Court. Available for consulting, expert reports, and training.

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  • Constitutional Court
    Victims’ rights in the JEP Procedure Law: C-590/2019, C-050/2020
  • Constitutional Court
    Freedom of speech and Indigenous rights: T-087/2023, SU-545/2023, SU-546/2023
  • Council of State
    Drug policy as a public health matter: case 201800444
Teaching

Clinical, constitutional, and methodological teaching.

Founding coordinator of the Carlos Gaviria Díaz Strategic Litigation Legal Clinic at UIS. Courses on Constitutional Law and Research Methods. TA and RA fellowships at Universidad de los Andes.

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  • UIS Legal Clinic
    Founding Coordinator, Carlos Gaviria Díaz Strategic Litigation Legal Clinic
  • UIS Master’s Program
    Research Methodologies in Human Rights
  • Universidad de los Andes
    TA & RA fellowships · Centre for Sociolegal Research (CIJUS)
Opinion

Notes on Law, Politics & Social Change

All writing & press →

Contact

Let’s talk.

Research collaborations, consulting briefs, expert testimony, speaking invitations, or press inquiries — this inbox is open.

Or write directly: jcarr74@uic.edu