Buenos Aires – the Chamber of Deputies in Argentina approved with 130 votes in favor – 99 against and 22 abstentions the new Criminal Procedural Code. This new code replaces the old inquisitor system with an accusatory system and establishes a limit of three years for the resolution of legal cases, imposing penalties for judges and prosecutors who exceed that period.
Others key points about the new code, passed Dec. 4: the prosecutor will now be in charge of the investigation rather than the judge, and he has a maximum of one year to finish with the investigation. Also, the opinion of the victim is incorporated at different levels.
Seventeen new prosecutor’s offices and 1713 new positions in prosecutors offices will be create around the country. The utilization of technological media like video conferences will be induced to avoid the transfer of witnesses to different jurisdictions.
The most controversial point of the new code is item 35, which makes reference to the possibility of “probation” and possible expulsion from the country. The item stipulates, however, that this option cannot be employed if it would infringe on the right to family reunification, when the accused is foreign and was caught committing a crime whose minimum penalty isn’t superior to three years of prison. The prohibition can bar reentry to the country for a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 15 years.
A group of 53 Human rights organizations sent a letter to the congress asking for the removal of item 35. The request was based on the idea that probation, which is supposed to try to generate a change in the people’s behavior, making them do community work, will instead be used against immigrants who commit minor crimes and who will be in the disjunctive of going to a trial or returning to their country, invalidating the entire intention of probation as an alternative to the penalty.
By Maria Semino
Argentina switches from inquisitorial to adversarial legal system
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