Operational problems of the retraction of the victim as a cause for reproduction or reading of previous statements
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Abstract
This work analyzes the practical problems of the new exception case to the principles of mediation and contradiction in cases of retraction of the victim, created by statute No. 21,523 in letter f) of article 331 of the Criminal Procedure Code. For these purposes, this research offers the theoretical framework that gives content to such principles as integral guarantees of the right to an oral trial, justifying a restrictive interpretation of its exceptions, with the clarifications that represent an adequate concept of retraction. Afterwards, the problems associated with two set of ideas are systematized: first, the objective scope of application of the exception (crimes) and the specific modality that must be assumed in its verification (reproduction or reading of previous statements); and, secondly, the difficulties presented by the legal requirement according to which the request must be supported by psychological reports and by the background information regarding to the evaluation of the risk that the victim is in; all with the aim of providing interpretative options that balance the protection and strengthening of the rights of victims and respect for the statute of guarantees that the accused holds.