NCJ Number
138980
Date Published
1989
Length
216 pages
Annotation
This volume describes the historical and legal background and current structure and operation of Argentina's criminal justice system.
Abstract
The discussion emphasizes that the system is based on the view that legislation by itself provides all solutions and legal principles, and that the role of judges is to search through the law to find the normative principle covering every possible dispute. Therefore, prior judicial decisions, custom, and doctrine are placed far below legislation, although lower courts tend to follow legal views or standards expressed by higher courts. The investigation of crimes is theoretically a judicial function, vested in an agency headed by magistrates called investigating judges, with police assigned an auxiliary role. Trials under the Argentinian federal rules differ significantly from trials in the United States, and the trial judge is usually someone other than the judge in charge of the investigation. Footnotes