Deputies discussed reforms to the Justice system: trial by jury, repetition and seizure of firearms

Fernando Brovelli Report.-

With the intention of establishing the regime of trial by jury To determine the penalties for certain crimes, the Chamber of Deputies met on Tuesday for a new meeting to discuss the reforms that have the support of the Government to transform the national justice system.

Two other debates took place in the plenary session of the Justice, Criminal Legislation and Budget and Finance committees: the modification of the Criminal Code with respect to the Recidivism, reiteration and unification of crimes; and the incorporation of article 23 bis on the seizure of firearmswhich establishes a maximum period of six months to decide whether to return or destroy confiscated ammunition or weapons. This last project was approved.

There are eleven provinces that have been applying the regime for years. jtrial by jury and there are coincidences between the different projects presented in the need to implement it. The only variation is the modality of the system that will be established: it is discussed between a popular jury of 12 civilian members with gender parity or a jurywhich combines judges and non-legal professionals. The first of these alternatives would have greater legislative support.

Although the ruling party did not present a proposal, the Secretary of Justice Sebastian Amerio argued that “There is no court of law more independent and impartial than the jury: neither their promotions nor their judicial careers depend on its verdicts.“. “Citizens do not understand the acquittals and convictions of technical judges and there is often a feeling that there is no justice. This generates recurring severe crises of legitimacy“But when a popular jury is the one that gives the verdict, the confidence in that decision is immensely greater,” he said.

Jury Trial Settlements

The specialists summoned to the plenary session of commissions highlighted their support for the establishment of a federal jury trial system. In this context, Victor del Rio, president of the Supreme Court of Justice of Chaco (where this system exists) noted that “many of the excuses for not implementing this system were that ‘there is no money’. The money is very well spent, we have regained the trust of the citizens“.

“We are about to make a reality of a law so long awaited by our constituents, whose fundamental characteristics have been validated by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights”, said Andrés Harfuchfrom the Institute of Comparative Studies in Criminal and Social Sciences (INECIP). The lawyer Julian Alfie He valued that this is “the most significant law of the entire judicial reform agenda that all governments have proposed for years. Jury trials address the public’s distrust of judicial decisions.”

Among the different blocks there would be accompaniments to one of the projects of the Radical Civic Unionwhich establishes a Trial by jury of 12 civilian members with gender parity (what are known as popular juries) for all crimes with a sentence of 5 years in the abstract. They must give a unanimous verdict. Although there are seven other projects, the majority of the authors of the other initiatives expressed their willingness to support the deputy’s wording. Fernando Carbajal.

Opinion on reform of the firearms law

In a second part of the debate, the deputies present -whose number was greatly reduced due to its coincidence with the time of a football match of the Argentine National Team- agreed on a Opinion to incorporate Article 23 bis about the seizure of firearmswhich proposes a six-month period to destroy seized ammunition or return it to its owners if the judicial investigation determines their innocence.

The author of the project, the Buenos Aires native Matías Molle (Union for the Homeland)explained that “the vast majority of these weapons have had their cases resolved but the judges did not order their destruction and no progress could be made” and that “this project aims to resolve the situation that exists today and the weapons can be removed from circulation.” “These weapons then end up on the street, because one of the biggest outlets for the black market for firearms are the warehouses.”he added.

Both legislators Marcela Campagnoli (Civic Coalition) as Alvaro Martinez (Freedom Advances) expressed their agreement, with observations regarding the way the text was written.