Criminal justice and forms of bargaining in North American law

repercussions

Abstract

The text examines the institute of plea bargaining in North American law, analyzing its concept, incidence, classes, and requirements for accepting the defendant's plea. It argues that negotiated guilty pleas have become the normal form of case resolution, reaching about 90% of cases, due to the high cost and slowness of trials. It analyzes the modalities of negotiation, such as charge bargaining and sentence bargaining, and the requirements of voluntariness, intelligence, and factual basis of the plea. It criticizes the institute for undermining the search for truth, inducing innocent people to plead guilty, and punishing those who exercise the right to trial, concluding that the administration of justice cannot be reduced to a cost-benefit analysis.