Birmingham, Al (WIAT) Accused killer Joran van der Sloot is already living a legal nightmare. Incarcerated in Lima, Peru's notorious Castro Castro prison, he's charged with the murder of 21 year old Stephany Flores...found dead in van der Sloot's hotel room.
He's already confessed and led investigators on a tour of the bloody death scene...reportedly telling investigators he killed Flores after she found material relating to Natalee Holloway on his laptop computer. Mountain Brook High School grad Holloway disappeared on a trip to Aruba five years to the day of Flores death. She was last seen with van der Sloot.
Unlike his current situation in Peru, Aruba was home turf for van der Sloot and his father was a prominent lawyer. He was questioned several times but never charged by Aruban authorities.
By contrast, his alleged victim in Peru is from a well known family and he has no influence over the system there. In fact, he's already lost an appeal trying to throw out his confession. That appeal was based on several claimed factors: that he was coerced, that he didn't have an adequate translator, that he had improper legal representation. But at this moment, the confession remains in evidence along with, reportedly, DNA and other physical evidence from the scene.
Unlike Aruba, there's no guarantee of speedy trial in Peru. Here's some background.
Legal System
Peru has a civil law legal system, based on European models. More recently, the U.S. legal system has influenced commercial and corporate law. Peru has not accepted compulsory International Court of Justice jurisdiction.
Peru’s justice system is hierarchical and consists of the Supreme Court (Corte Suprema), Superior Courts (Cortes Superiores), specialized Courts (civil, criminal and mixed) and Justice of the Peace Courts. The Supreme Court, based in Lima, has 32 justices appointed by the National Council of the Judiciary (Consejo Nacional de la Magistratura). In 2002, there were a total of 1268 courts of all types in the country.
Peru’s legal system is also comprised of many agencies. The seven members of Peru’s National Judiciary Council autonomously appoint, confirm and remove judges as guaranteed by the Peruvian Constitution. The Public Ministry (Ministerio Público) oversees guaranteeing the rule of law, respect for legal rights and the execution of justice. The Public Prosecutor’s Office (La Fiscalía) investigates crimes and undertakes criminal prosecutions. The Prosecutor’s Office includes the National Prosecutor (Fiscal de la Nación), Supreme Prosecutors (Fiscales Supremos), Senior Prosecutors (Fiscales Superiores), Provincial Prosecutors (Fiscales Provinciales) and Assistant Prosecutors (adjuntos), all whom may act independently. As of October 2002, Peru had 1497 prosecutors.
Peru has a National Public Defender’s Service (Defensores de Oficio) with 256 public defenders in 2002. The public defenders work in police units, Criminal Courts, Specialized Criminal Courts, Family Courts, the military justice system, and the Criminal Prosecutor’s Office. According to the United Nations Development Programme, Peru’s public defenders system is unable to meet the country’s needs due to understaffing, low salaries and an inadequate infrastructure.
Peru’s municipalities are run autonomously by municipal councils (consejo municipal), provincial councils (consejo provincial), and district councils (consejo distrital), all of whose members are directly elected. The municipalities administer assets, taxes, transportation, local public services, urban development and education.
There are many factors that help to explain the current status of Peru’s legal system. The aftereffects of twenty years of political violence, between 1980 and 2000, left imprints on the Peruvian legal system. After so many years of political violence and state repression Peruvian society has experienced a general loss of confidence in state institutions. Insurgency, violence and emergency legislation all hindered Congress’ ability to pass legislation that would impact significant sectors of the population. Other factors that have influenced the judicial system are Peru’s informal economy and society’s mistrust, in general, of the judicial system and lawyers. This overall mistrust stems from serious problems within the judicial system itself. Typically there are delays of five years before delivering a verdict. There is a lack of independence from the executive branch of government. Indeed, the executive branch often appointed and removed certain judges for political purposes. The judicial system lacks sufficient resources to properly carry out its functions. Further, the system has failed to provide adequate protection of the judiciary from insurgents and drug traffickers. In the last few years, Peru’s Congress has created special investigative commissions on human rights and judicial corruption to bring many of these issues to public attention.
Compiled from:
The Structure of Legal Education in Peru: Notes for a Diagnostic;
Library of Congress Country Studies;
Justice Studies Center of the Americas.
