The CRIMINAL ACTION PRESCRIPTION IN THE LATEST PERUVIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT CASE LAW: REGARDING THE CRIMINAL CODE’S ARTICLE 84 MODIFICATION

Abstract

The passage of time has a direct impact on legal institutions. Those that make up criminal law are no exception. Among others, it is the expression of the punitive power of the State, embodied in the criminal process, which is rationally limited by it. Hence, criminal action can be promoted only within defined time limits, determining the closure of its validity once exceeded. This last legal effect, called prescription, is established as a manifestation of the right and guarantee of a reasonable period of time, thus, prescribing its character as a constitutional principle of protection in the jurisdiction of that matter. In that sense, the Peruvian Constitutional Court, interpreting the norms that positively regulate it in the Penal Code, establishes in its jurisprudence current application criteria on said institute, especially referring to the suspension of its calculation. This last specific situation has generated special controversy in ordinary courts since the issuance of Law No. 31751, generating an interpretative struggle between the Criminal Chambers of the Supreme Court and the highest interpreter of the Constitution and the law. This is a descriptive text, which will serve to clearly define the legal and jurisprudential problem raised, and to express the reasons why the Constitutional Tribunal’s jurisprudence should be followed.