As part of the ILANUD and Agency for International Development (AID) project to improve the administration of criminal justice systems in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic, the report concludes that one must consider the economic as well as the social ills of Guatemala to understand the problems of the criminal justice system. Part 1 explains the organization of the Guatemalan criminal justice system and its components such as the police and judicial system. Part 2 presents a political historical overview from the colonial times of 1524 to democratization in 1985. Part 3 details each part of the system and its particular function as a part of the whole, from the police organization and function to the judicial system and penal codes. Part 4 examines the criminal processing system from the aspects of norms, accessibility, independence, justness, and efficiency, while part 5 provides general conclusions based on these same five aspects. Charts, tables, flowcharts, and organization charts are included, and a bibliography on the subject is appended.