Meetings, email exchanges, reports and protocols they fail to solve the most serious problem facing the penal system of Neuquén: the suspension of scheduled hearings, with the consequent waste of human and material resourcesand the damage for defendants and victims.
The complex panorama, on which he has been reporting Black riverhad a high tide after the resumption of the fair in January. In February, of 12 scheduled trials, only 2 were held. In other words, 83% “fell” for various reasons, despite the fact that some were scheduled from mid-2022.
To thicken the broth that is cooked in the Judicial City, The Superior Court of Justice decided that all trials are face-to-face. The judges will be able to participate remotely only in exceptional casesempowered by the Directorate of Assistance to Challenges and General Coordination and when it comes to “trials of low complexity and/or difficulty”.
This measure generated two resentments. One: to judges and judges they do not like that the authorization depends on an administrative body (the Assistance Address is). And two: is an administrative body in a position to decide which case is of low complexity?
The example of Fuentealba II
To put it in a concrete example: the trial against eight police chiefs for concealment and abuse of authority known as Fuentealba II, is it a case of low complexity? By legal qualificationAt first glance, someone would say yes; by plurality of defendants, witnesses, plaintiffs and defendersas well as for its impact on society, many would say no.
That is why the three judges who are members of the Court attended, at least the first week, in person. But on Friday one of them, Diego Chavarría Ruiz, announced that Starting this Monday, he will follow the hearings virtually from Zapala, and will return to Neuquén for the allegations. Neither party objected. Is it a complex case or not?
objective guidelines
To make things clear, the College of Interior Judges proposed objective guidelines to define when a case is of low complexity, how far in advance a judge must communicate that he intends to participate virtually, what are the reasons he can argue, among other standards. The College of Judges of the capital is analyzing it to decide if it is coupled.
Arming the tetris
Let’s go back to suspended trials. The agenda is managed by the aforementioned Directorate for Assistance to Challenges and General Coordination, which already has hearings scheduled until November. Any shift in dates disarms Tetris and it is not easy for the pieces to fit together again.
In February, the Homicide Prosecutor’s Office asked the Directorate to peremptorily schedule two trials for a matter of expiration of periods of preventive detention.
The head of the Directorate, Gabriela Villalobos, replied with a bitter email addressed to Attorney General José Gerez, in which she reproachfully informed him that “in various files with scheduled trials, their execution has been frustratedwith the consequent impossibility of using the resources for the allocation of other days of debate”.
last minute
The detailed report prepared by Villalobos lists the 12 trials scheduled for February 2023, some announced from March 2022, of which 10 were suspended, even on the same day they were to be held. Except in one case (the defendant did not appear), the other nine “fell” due to the responsibility of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
“Agreements”, “possible alternative exit”, “prescription”, “accumulation with other files”, were some of the causes of the suspensions. In the best of cases, the prosecution gave 18 business days notice; at worst, the very day of the trial.
Villalobos informed Gerez about the trials scheduled until Apriland asked him to notify him if the prosecution is going to carry them out or not.
As this medium has also been reporting, there is a debate as to whether this collapse is due to a lack of judges or a failure of the organization. It is difficult to mark where the busilis of the matter is.
What should not be lost sight of is waste. A judge or judge whose hearing is suspended receives the day off work. And if that judge or judge He traveled from another city for a trial that was frustrated, he also receives travel expenses.
The Council of the Magistracy
Regarding the first point, the institutional disorder that left the Judicial Council disarmed, and the institutional recess of the Legislature where there are four folds of magistrates and officials awaiting an agreement to assume office, are of little help.
The Council has three acting members (Gustavo Mazieres, Andrea Paz, Eduardo Sepúlveda) and just this week it is possible that the four representatives of the Legislature take office, with all legal deadlines expired.
While the College of Judges of Neuquén capital has 9 members, the same amount as the Interior. There is a request from the Judicial Office of the First District so that 3 more charges are createdwhich is being studied by the Superior Court of Justice.
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