Oportunidad del procesado para acogerse al proceso penal abreviado en la legislación penal ecuatoriana

Abstract

The general objective of this paper is to analyze the treatment given to the abbreviated procedure in the COIP in order to propose a reform in order to protect the rights of the accused to benefit from this procedure until the trial hearing; for which an explanatory type research with a qualitative approach was developed. In its realization, both theoretical and empirical scientific research methods were used; among the former are the inductive-deductive, the analytical-synthetic and the exegetical; regarding the empirical methods, scientific observation and the analysis of documents and bibliographical materials were used. A structured interview was also applied to 8 legal professionals. Among the main findings are the existenceof criteria found among specialists on the constitutionality of the abbreviated procedure, some consider that it violates the principle of innocence, violating the right of non-self-incrimination; likewise, it nullifies the burden of proof of guilt. The specialists interviewed fully agree that the abbreviated procedure leads to procedural efficiency and speed and that the scope for accepting this procedure should be extended until the trial stage.