Principle of congruence in the ecuadorian criminal process

Abstract

The present study addresses the issue of consistency in the Ecuadorian criminal process, taking as a starting point the difficulties and theoretical debates that are still presented in the order of their practical application from the implementation of the accusatory system of prosecuting that Ecuador has adopted. Consistency, centered on the correlation between the accusation made by the prosecutor and the sentence handed down by the judge, constitutes a guarantee of impartiality of the judges and the exercise of the right to defense, which is part of due process and the right to be tried before a third party not committed to the investigation and prosecution. It was established as a general objective to determine the basic requirements so that the principle of congruence is considered fulfilled and as specific objectives, to identify the moment in which the object of the process is set and to evaluate the limits that are imposed on the judge as a result of the imputation correlation. judgment. Through the legal research methodology, it was possible to establish that consistency requires the coincidence between the facts of the accusation, as well as the legal qualifications imputed by the accuser and, on the other hand, it was determined that, although the accusation sets the object of the process, from the formulation of charges the defendant knows the facts from which he must defend himself and this content cannot be modified by the judge at any other subsequent procedural moment.