Alternative Solutions and ways of Anticipated Termination

In last decades several Latin-American countries[1] have adopted in its legislation the accusatory criminal system that gazes the so-called alternative solutions and ways of anticipated termination, which intends to give different answers to the controversies in the criminal matter.

One of the biggest obstacles and challenges of the criminal justice in Mexico is the handle of a great number of cases whose procedure, in general, is really slow, because they surpass the response capacity of our authorities in charge of the administration and seek of justice.

A modern criminal procedure system as the one that Mexico pretends to have requires the systematic implementation, in criminal procedures, of alternative solutions and ways of anticipated termination, since they are mechanisms that help to depressurize the criminal system along with the delivery of prompt and expeditious justice, considered in our Constitution, and so, only go to trial the cases that seriously hurt society.[2]

The alternative solutions and ways of anticipated termination are instruments that allow fixing the damage faster, without the need to wait that all the stages in a proceeding are followed until a sentence is made and this one is signed. En previous method this could take months or years.

Another important point is that they provoke a lesser physical, emotional and economic stress on the parties involved in the criminal conflict, compared to a full criminal process, where there’s the risk to not get the desired result by the parties.

It’s been observed in other Latin-American countries that alternative solutions and ways of anticipated termination have helped to decrease the reoccurrence rates[3] and has largely avoided the stigmatization of the accused since through the alternative solutions there is no criminal record for them, which implies that they won’t be limited in their work, professional or family life by said antecedent, fostering a better social reintegration.

The alternative solutions and ways of anticipated termination also help to decrease the possibilities for the accused to be imprisoned during the proceeding, since they offer an alternative to put an end to the criminal conflict between the parties different from prison. Experience has proved that prison for a misdemeanor, usually generates a greater evil than the one caused by the sentenced.

The Criminal Proceedings National Code in the 184th and 185th articles respectively foresees as alternative solutions the repairing agreements and the conditioned suspension of the process and as ways of anticipated termination the summary proceeding.

The repairing agreement consists, as its name says, the parties, victim or offended and the accused, reach an agreement where the first ones feel fixed from the damages caused by the crimes where the law allow this instance and as long as they are approved by the Attorney General or by the Judge, considering the proceeding stage where they are entered into.[4]

The conditioned suspension consists of an approach made by the Public Prosecutor’s Office or the accused, once it has been linked to the process and just before the trial starts, which will contain a detailed plan on the payment to repair the damages to the victim or offended and the accused submission to one or several conditions made by the judge.[5]

The brief proceeding is carried out by request of the Public Attorney’s Office or the accused when this one takes the responsibility for the crime it is accused of, to which it must be duly informed about it right to an oral trial, about the scope of this kind of proceeding, resign to the oral trial and accepts to be sentenced with the proves and means the Public Attorneys Office   has by the time the accusation is made. This proceeding’s consequence is the penalty reduction up to the half, two thirds or one-third of the minimum penalty for the crime committed. What implies a mechanism to speed up the proceeding and as consequence a large reduction of the prison sentence.[6]

With the alternative solution and the ways of anticipated termination, we must change the paradigm that the only solution to a conflict is by starting a criminal proceeding, where usually the result is that one party wins and the other loses, with this new instruments there are other ways where both parties can win.

To an international level, it’s seen that the highest development level and social equality is manifested by its ability to solve conflicts with the least use of coercive instruments. We already have the criminal amendment, now we need a cultural and ideological change for its adequate implementation and application in our country.

 

[1] In the year 1998 such system was established in El Salvador, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Paraguay; afterward in Bolivia in 1999; Ecuador and Chile in 2000; Nicaragua in 2001.

In Mexico, it was until Jun 18th, 2008 when the criminal accusatory system is considered through the amendment to 10 articles of our Political Constitution, which entered into force gradually and it was until June 18th, 2018 that enters into force in all the Mexican Republic.

[2] In the USA case, 95% of the cases don’t get to trial. In Chile during the first five years of the Criminal Accusatory System entered into force, 1 from every 3 conflicts ended up with an alternative solution, and statistically rose by a 3% or 4% the cases year by year with alternative solutions.

[3] In Chile, people who gets in through any of these mechanisms do not have levels of recidivism higher than 10%, versus levels of recidivism of those who have served their sentences deprived of liberty, which exceed 60%.

[4] Criminal Procedures National Code articles 186th to 190th.

[5] Criminal Procedures National Code articles 191st to 200th.

[6] Criminal Procedures National Code articles 201st to 2nd.