The Daily Journal.- A major national consultation aimed at the deep transformation of Venezuela’s criminal justice system will formally begin on June 1. The announcement was made as part of an institutional report presented from Miraflores Palace by interim president Delcy Rodríguez, together with National Assembly president Jorge Rodríguez, focusing on progress in human rights and the optimization of the judicial system.
The operational report from judicial institutions reflects an acceleration in the resolution of criminal cases and efforts to reduce procedural delays compared to previous periods, through the combined implementation of the Amnesty Law and the mechanisms of the Judicial Revolution Commission.
Balance of releases and system reform
During her speech, the interim president provided detailed figures on the scope of measures implemented by justice institutions so far this year, positively assessing the impact of case review policies.
“I welcome that the Judicial Revolution Commission has announced that so far this year 3,630 releases have been carried out related to procedural delays. So this is the path forward: that this body, in permanent consultation—as well as the national consultation starting on June 1—allows us to join the deep transformation of the criminal justice system, in honor of human rights and our Constitution,” said Delcy Rodríguez.
The interim executive leader explained that the current flow of releases is the result of the coordination of multiple legal mechanisms aimed at an overall restructuring.
“Because not only releases and full freedom have come from the amnesty, but also from different processes, and I believe these processes converge and are leading us toward a cleansing of the criminal justice system in line with what the country wants and needs, in pursuit of political and social calm, in pursuit of political and social peace,” she said.
Rodríguez also acknowledged that the State is advancing in this direction “at a difficult moment—it must be said and recognized a difficult moment for justice.”
Legislative proposal: toward a new Criminal Justice Code
For his part, National Assembly president Jorge Rodríguez emphasized the need to provide the State with modern and unified legal tools to accompany the structural reform process that will be discussed with citizens starting June 1.
The parliamentary leader suggested the urgency of simplifying and consolidating the existing criminal legal framework into a single governing instrument to ensure greater efficiency in the courts.
“We want to insist that when the work of reforming the criminal system develops, we would like to work on codes that group laws, and in that sense the reform or drafting of a great Criminal Justice Code, I believe, would be essential,” the National Assembly representative stated.
