DIGITALIZATION OF PUBLIC CRIMINAL HEARINGS IN PERU DURING THE PANDEMIC: VIOLATION OF THE IMMEDIATE PRINCIPLE?

ABSTRACT

During the COVID 19 pandemic in Peru, the digitalization process of criminal public hearings increased, initiated in previous years by the introduction of ICTs in the work of legal institutions and professionals. This situation has given rise to debates on the application of the principle of immediacy, which traditionally governs criminal proceedings. The present work has the objective of analyzing the influence of digitalization on the principle of immediacy in criminal public hearings, held in Peru during the COVID 19 pandemic. To achieve this objective, a qualitative design study, descriptive and the use of theoretical level methods, to explain the use of ICTs and the digitization process, the general principles of law, with an emphasis on im-mediacy, and digitization in criminal public hearings. As a result, it is concluded that legislation and jurisprudence agree that the digitalization of public criminal hearings does not violate the principle of immediacy, but rather facilitates the interrelation of the parties, and the judge's appreciation of objective and subjective elements that guarantee his conviction. to dictate a fair and well-founded sentence in matters of facts and law. © 2023, University of Cienfuegos, Carlos Rafael Rodriguez. All rights reserved.