A SUPREMELY INSECURE COURT: ABOUT OUR HIGHEST TRIBUNAL OF JUSTICE CRITERIA AND INTERPRETATION ON THE PERUVIAN CRIMINAL CODE’S MODIFIED ARTICLE 84

Abstract

During 2023, the Criminal Code has been object of multiple modifications. That of article 84 has been one of the most relevant, which established a one-year peremptory period of suspension of the criminal action. Although it has generated a special controversy in the political and academic spheres, the Criminal Chambers of the Supreme Court of Justice agreed on is unquestionable application, as stated in its most recent jurisprudence issued between June and October of this year. However, on November 28th, 2023, the Plenary Agreement N.° 05-2023/ CIJ-112 was published, through which the same Tribunals that applied the modified article, raised its unconstitutionality as a legal doctrine. Such an abrupt change in criteria not only promotes legal uncertainty, but also proposes the permanence of an irrational conception of the calculation of the suspension period, which comes incompatible with the reasonable period right.