2023-10-22 13:00:13
Lawyers and prosecutors claim that the resolution of cases was affected by rescheduling hearings due to protests and blockades in recent weeks. However, the Projusticia movement describes it as an “exaggeration,” stating that judicial delays have always existed due to deficiencies in the judicial system.
In 16 days of blockades, the judicial delay has worsened because the hearings for different processes were rescheduled, and although personnel are now allowed to enter the headquarters of the Public Ministry (MP), for several days the files could not be extracted of various cases, say lawyers, prosecutors and the MP himself.
2020 became the year with the fewest hearings and sentences since 2017, due to restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus; this panorama for some jurists was already reflected in the last two weeks due to the blockades.
The lawyers affirm that the functioning of the Judicial Branch (OJ) was affected, since the main effect was to exacerbate the judicial delay and is evidenced by a delay in criminal, civil, family, labor and challenges files that are in courts, courts, appeals chambers, chambers and the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) itself.
Although work and economic activities have normalized in most of the country, the problem continued until this week in front of the MP’s headquarters, located in the Gerona neighborhood, zone 1, where the protesters have remained at the main entrance.
Last Wednesday night, the National Civil Police spoke with the protesters who were stationed at that headquarters and the main entrance to the building was evacuated, waiting for the staff to resume work activities.
Rescheduled
Criminal lawyer Abraham Girón confirms that in the Court Tower the hearings have been delayed because the prosecutors have not been able to access the files found in the attorney general’s office.
“There were delays in carrying out the hearings because they had to be rescheduled, and due to the time of year the courts are going on vacation and many hearings have already been postponed to 2024,” he says.
The hearings have established deadlines and failure to comply with those deadlines can mean a violation of the process and human rights, according to prosecutors, because they are also procedures to grant freedom or grant medical permission.
Almost all the hearings have been rescheduled, we have all been affected,” says lawyer César Calderón, who hopes that with access to the MP’s central offices, activity in the Court Tower will begin to normalize, stating that several of His clients have pending hearings.
Posture
The MP’s Communication Department reported that during 16 days of protests, “an impact on justice was created at different levels.”
In relation to the victims, those who had subpoenas to ratify their complaints, provide testimonial statements, hold conciliation meetings, among other procedures, were affected, which could have had an impact on the possibility of losing important clues for progress in their cases,” indicated the MP in a statement.
He added that the prosecutors were denied access to the ministerial files that have “indications and evidence, which are necessary within a hearing to link a person to criminal proceedings, for him to be sent to trial and even to be obtain a sentence.”
In the response document they also affirm that there are processes that were about to be completed. However, “the defendants will have to wait months for the hearings to be rescheduled in accordance with the agendas of the jurisdictional bodies.”
Exaggeration
For Carmen Aída Ibarra, director of the ProJusticia Movement, the judicial delay is due to structural problems in the justice system, which have to do with the negligence in which cases are handled, the bureaucracy of the processes and the lack of personnel in the MP and the O.J.
“For that there is a decentralization of headquarters of the justice system, it is assumed that there are MP headquarters in the 340 municipalities and the same number of courts,” he responded.
Ibarra says that, although the public criminal defense does have problems because it does not have enough offices throughout the country, like the National Institute of Forensic Sciences, and mobility was affected during the protests, it was not at the national level and it was qualifies as an “exaggeration” to say that the judicial delay worsened.
“Do not come and say that there is a material impossibility in some municipalities, because there were no protests and blockades in the 340 MP headquarters, although there were protests around the Court Tower, access was not prevented,” he warns.
Excuse
Ibarra maintains that at the MP’s headquarters there are other incomes and it was the staff who “were afraid to come to work.”
“Now it turns out that the 48 Cantons are responsible for everything bad that happens in the country, that should not be an excuse to say that the judicial delay worsened,” he warns.
He added that the MP is the organization that has the best technology to carry out the work. He also questions the fact that during the last two months of the year the staff who work at the OJ take vacations.
“It is not possible for them to say that the processes were delayed when the Court Tower is abandoned during these dates because all the staff take vacations as if nothing had happened,” lamented Ibarra.
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