The Transformation into the Guardian of Administrative Legality

The Comptroller-General between 1943 and 1970

Abstract

This article examines the transformation of the Comptroller General of the Republic into a relevant guardian of administrative legality between the 1940s and 1960s. It is argued that this transformation of the Comptroller General in Chile brought it closer to the National Congress through constitutional reform in 1943, the impeachment of comptroller Agustín Vigorena, and a series of legal reforms that tried to find a balance between the need for legal accountability and expeditious administrative action. In addition, this paper examines how in this period the Comptroller General’s Office became involved in a series of political conflicts with President Carlos Ibáñez and developed into an attractive institution for both researchers and young, academically inclined lawyers.