Guía para víctimas de delitos

Delitos are categorized as either acción pública or acción privada. Acción pública delitos, such as asesinatos, homicidios, and violaciones, are initiated by the fiscal, while acción privada delitos, including injurias, calumnias, and giro de cheque en descubierto, are initiated by the victim. A víctima is defined as any person who suffers a physical, psychological, sexual, moral, or economic damage due to a conduct penalized by law. The Nuevo Código considers víctima to include not only the person who has suffered the delito but also their parientes cercanos, such as parents, spouses, or children, as well as personas jurídicas, including associations, foundations, and companies. Victims of delitos can report the incident to the policía or the fiscal del lugar where they reside. If the victim is unable to report the incident due to impedimento, a pariente or amigo can denounce on their behalf. The fiscal responsible for the case will investigate to determine the truth of the incident. The Nuevo Código of Procedimiento Penal allows víctimas to delegate their derechos to a representative from an institution that provides assistance to victims, known as representación convencional. Several institutions in the country provide ayuda a la víctima, and a list of some of these institutions can be found on the last page of this guía. Victims have the right to be treated with respect and consideration, to receive ayuda psicológica and social from the Estado, to receive información relevant about their case, to be heard in the process, to decide whether to resolve their conflict through a juicio oral or a salida alternativa, to have the daño they suffered repaired in a reasonable timeframe, and to have their derechos respected. Not all delitos are equal, and the fiscal has the obligation to orient the victim in their case, allowing them to decide between pursuing a juicio oral or reaching an agreement with the perpetrator through salidas alternativas. If no agreement is reached and the delito carries a penalty of more than four years, a juicio oral with ciudadano judges is initiated.