The autonomous tribunals are specialized institutions prescribed by the Constitution that are not part of any of the three branches of power.

The fact that tribunals are not included either in the judiciary nor into the executive power, does not exclude them from the judicial review that guarantees a fair trial. On the contrary, the removal of the traditional powers, especially those elected by the voters, guarantee their independence in the resolution of electoral disputes and the qualification of the election.

The existence of an autonomous electoral tribunal is a huge step forward for those countries where the powers themselves were in charge of qualifying the lawfulness of their own elections. This is the first step to overcome the traditional model of conflict resolution based on political debate and become a new judicial system of dispute resolution based on legal procedures.

Autonomy can also be the following step after the integration to the judiciary. If that is the case, autonomy is beneficial if it is required by circumstances, provided that it does not affect the principles of the jurisdictional process. Thus, one of the benefits would be to prevent the judiciary from interfering in political matters.

In Latin America, judicial agencies are established in sixteen out of the eighteen continental countries. Nine of those sixteen electoral courts are autonomous (Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Peru, and Uruguay).