QUIBDO, Colombia, and BOLOGNA, Italy, and MADRID, Spain, March 9, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Colombian prosecutor and legal scholar Yackson Eustaquio Chaverra Mena has successfully completed and defended his postdoctoral research in Law at the University of Bologna, focusing on the constitutional architecture required for the legitimate integration of artificial intelligence into criminal justice systems.

Image caption: Pie de Foto (R) Yackson Eustaquio Chaverra Mena en la Biblioteca Widener de la Universidad de Harvard en Cambridge, Massachusetts, EE. UU.

Conducted at one of the world’s oldest universities, the research develops a normative and comparative framework for the regulation of AI-assisted decision-making in criminal procedure. The study examines predictive analytics, prosecutorial risk assessment tools, algorithmic profiling, and judicial decision-support systems, proposing a model grounded in meaningful human oversight, algorithmic transparency, explainability, traceability, and independent auditing mechanisms.

Rather than approaching artificial intelligence as a purely technological innovation, the research situates it within the theory of constitutional guarantees. It argues that AI systems operating in criminal justice environments constitute high-risk regulatory technologies that must remain subordinate to due process, presumption of innocence, equality before the law, and judicial independence.

The study contends that technological innovation in criminal justice is legitimate only when embedded within a verifiable framework of safeguards. These include the right to contest algorithmic outputs, mandatory human review of automated recommendations, public accountability standards, and mechanisms capable of identifying and mitigating systemic bias. In this sense, the work contributes to the global debate on predictive justice by emphasizing that efficiency cannot supersede constitutional proportionality.

The postdoctoral research also engages comparative experiences from the United States and Europe, including discussions surrounding risk assessment instruments and emerging regulatory frameworks on artificial intelligence. It aligns with ongoing international debates on AI governance in high-impact public sector applications, particularly in prosecutorial and judicial decision-making contexts.

This academic trajectory is complemented by the publication of the article “Artificial Intelligence Against Structural Corruption: Early Detection in Public Administration” in the peer-reviewed journal Derecom (Complutense University of Madrid). The article evaluates the use of AI-based monitoring systems to detect irregularities in public administration in Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. It proposes regulatory standards centered on privacy protection, bias mitigation, data governance, and mandatory human supervision in algorithmic processes affecting public decision-making.

Together, these research projects articulate a coherent doctrinal position: artificial intelligence must operate within a rights-based constitutional order. Innovation is not rejected; rather, it is conditioned by legality, transparency, and democratic oversight.

Doctoral Research and Academic Continuity

Chaverra Mena previously earned a Doctor of Law degree (Magna Cum Laude) from the University of Baja California (Mexico), where his doctoral research examined structural corruption and corruption-related criminal offenses within institutional systems. That work analyzed systemic patterns of corruption and proposed structural legal responses grounded in criminal policy and institutional accountability.

He is currently pursuing his second doctoral degree at the Catholic University of Colombia, concentrating on artificial intelligence and law, with particular emphasis on technological governance in criminal justice systems. This second doctorate deepens the theoretical line initiated in his postdoctoral research, expanding it toward the design of normative standards for algorithmic regulation in prosecutorial and judicial contexts.

He also completed graduate coursework toward a Master’s degree in Public Law at Universidad Externado de Colombia and undertook postgraduate studies in Criminal Law at Universidad San Martín de Porres (Peru), without formal degree conferral. His academic production addresses structural corruption, algorithmic governance, predictive justice, and constitutional guarantees in emerging technological environments. His publications are indexed in international academic repositories with verifiable DOI registration.

Public Service and Merit-Based Career

Chaverra Mena joined Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office in 2010 through a national merit-based competition. Over the past fifteen years, he has served in various prosecutorial capacities, including Sectional Prosecutor and Acting Administrative Deputy Director of Prosecutors’ Offices.

He is currently included on the consolidated eligibility list for Delegated Prosecutor before the Regional Tribunal, following a merit-based selection process. Additionally, he maintains judicial proceedings aimed at securing inclusion, on merit-based grounds, in the eligibility list for Magistrate before the Sectional Tribunal, within the institutional framework of equal access to public service and defense of merit principles.

Regional Origin and Global Engagement

As a native of the department of Chocó, Chaverra Mena becomes the first jurist from the region to obtain a postdoctoral distinction in Law at the University of Bologna and one of the first Chocó-born scholars to publish peer-reviewed research on artificial intelligence and law through the Complutense University of Spain. This academic trajectory situates him among the emerging doctrinal voices in Colombia addressing the constitutional regulation of artificial intelligence in criminal justice, contributing from a Global South perspective to debates traditionally dominated by European and North American scholarship.

“Technological systems may assist judicial actors,” he stated following his defense, “but they must never replace constitutional reasoning or human responsibility. Legitimacy in justice depends on guarantees, not on automation.”

About Yackson Eustaquio Chaverra Mena

Yackson Eustaquio Chaverra Mena is a Colombian career prosecutor selected through a public merit-based competition in 2010. He holds a Doctor of Law degree (Magna Cum Laude), completed postdoctoral research at the University of Bologna, and is currently pursuing a second doctoral degree focused on artificial intelligence and criminal law. His work centers on structural corruption, AI governance, and constitutional safeguards in criminal justice systems.

ORCID: 0000-0003-4858-6779
Website: https://yacksonchaverra.com/

NEWS SOURCE: Yackson Eustaquio Chaverra Mena

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