The plenary session of the Criminal Legislation and Justice commissions of the Chamber of Deputies discussed another of the ruling party’s reform projects.
The Government continues to advance security and justice reform initiatives. This Wednesday, one day after the participation of Patricia Bullrich in legislative plenary sessionsimultaneously they debated the anti-mafia law in the Senate and the regime of trial in absentia in Deputies.
He trial in absentia modifies criminal procedure legislation to allow the continuity and completion of the criminal process even if the accused is absent in some crimes. In this framework, the authorization would be specified when a judge declares rebellion of the accused for not appearing before the Court, for being absent from home without justification or for having escaped from their place of detention, in the case of certain crimes that are still under discussion.
Here two positions come into conflict: those that raise the right of the deputy to witness his trial and those that maintain that presence is a guarantee that can eventually be waived and that his defense would be guaranteed in any case. These proposals were discussed this Wednesday in the plenary session of the Criminal Legislation and Justice commissions of Deputies.
Debate of trial in absentia in Deputies
This Wednesday’s information meeting was attended by the former legislator Graciela Camanoauthor of one of the proposals for trial in absentia that was discussed “we cannot accept that the absence of the accused, who voluntarily withdraws from Justice and places himself in better conditions than the one who is legally entitled, deprives us of the criminal process” . “We must be able to measure the nature of the crimes involved: they are terrorism and against humanity”he clarified.
For his part, the deputy Julio Cobos (UCR) detailed the two most relevant articles of his bill: the modification of article 290 of the Criminal Procedure Code, “which opens the door to this possibility of trial in absentia” as declares the accused in absentia; and the incorporation of article 292 where it is expressed “when is trial in absentia allowedin the concurrence of certain circumstances such as extradition, what happens with the presentation of the accused in the process, the technical defense and what crimes it includes.”
Julio César Cleto Cobos Member of the Chamber of Deputies of Argentina
Ignacio Petunchi
Another of the guests was Franco Fiumara, judge of La Matanzawho considered that this is an exception process and not a rule. “It can be done in a mixed way, with presence and absence,” he stated and asked to take into account “identification and notification of the accusedwhich if not located may be tacit; technical mandatory defender, official or private; and also the review resourcewhich is the remedy for the accused’s lack of material defense because he voluntarily removed himself from the incident.”
Security Bases Law: projects are promoted by the Government
Within the package of reforms to the Penal Code and other legislative initiatives that make up the security agenda, the ruling party gave priority to the following projects:
- Expansion of the National Registry of Genetic Data Linked to Crimes against Sexual Integrity: Genetic material will be extracted to integrate the registry of all people prosecuted for crimes contemplated by the Penal Code. It became law.
- Reform of Law 26,216 on Firearms: Flexibility of the protocol for legal access to possession of firearms. Extension for four years of the National Voluntary Surrender of Firearms Program, which allows anonymous delivery of weapons for destruction. He obtained a half sanction in Deputies.
- Comprehensive Approach Project against Organized Crime: aggravation and unification of penalties for those considered members of a criminal organization, establishment of special powers for security forces in “Zones Subject to Special Investigation” and early confiscation. He obtained a half sanction in Deputies.
- Modification of the Juvenile Penal Regime: lowering of the age of imputability (from 16 to 13 or 14 years, depending on the project) and determination of new institutional responsibilities of the State with respect to adolescents prosecuted. It is being debated in committees.
- Trial regime in absentia: allows the continuity and completion of the criminal process even if the accused is absent. It is being debated in committees.
- Jury trial: the popular jury scheme of 12 civilian members with gender parity was imposed to establish verdicts in crimes with an abstract sentence of 5 years; They must give a unanimous ruling. It is being debated in committees.
- Reform of Law No. 20,429 on Weapons and Explosives: establishes a maximum period of six months to define the return or destruction of seized ammunition or weapons. It is being debated in committees.
- Sanction of the Restored Property law: establishment of the parameters for distribution to civil society of assets seized from drug traffickers and criminal organizations. It is being debated in committees.
- Internal Security Law: enables the Armed Forces to participate in internal security activities without having to resort to the declaration of a state of siege; His actions cannot be punishable. It is being debated in committees.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
