The Model Code of Criminal Procedure for Ibero-America 10 years later

Abstract

The text analyzes the evolution in Latin American countries of the Model Code of Criminal Procedure, whose studies had been proposed at the "V Ibero-American Conference of Cartagena (1977)". This Model Code is characterized by: the accusatory model; the suppression of examining magistrates' courts; the attribution of prior investigation to the Public Prosecution Service, with the judge's intervention for precautionary measures, with the evidentiary elements collected during the investigation serving only for the opinio delicti of the Public Prosecution Service; the public and oral process, in adversarial proceedings; the ordinary procedure; the provision for conditional suspension of proceedings; the existence of abbreviated procedures; the replacement of the appeal by the cassation appeal and by the pro reo review; courts composed of lay elements; the mitigation of the principle of mandatory prosecution; concern for the victim; the judicialization of execution; the effectiveness of the guarantees of due process of law.