Rights of Victim and Rights of the Offender. Debates and Perspectives on Domestic Violence in the Argentine Justice

IVANA GUADALUPE JANCIK

Buenos Aires

Congreso; 27th World Congress of Political Science; 2023

IPSA ( INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION)

This presentation aims to understand the political consequences of the confrontation between two different rights: the rights of women victims of domestic violence to access a timely trial, and the rights of offenders to access probation when the crimes committed have not been extremely serious. In 1994, the Argentine Penal Code was reformed, incorporating for the first time the probation. Since then, offenders who satisfied certain conditions have been able to access this right that includes compensation for the damage caused, without this implying a confession of guilt. However, in 2013 the Supreme Court of Justice in the "Fallo Góngora" indicated the inadmissibility of accessing probation if the offender had committed crimes related to gender violence. The argument is based on the “Convention of Belém do Parᔠwithin the framework of the Organization of American States (OAS) that recommends that women victims of violence have access to a "timely trial". This is a scenario of rights controversy: on the one hand, the rights of the victims dictated by the Convention and the Supreme Court; and on the other, the rights of the offenders that are refused in these conditions. Beyond the legal basis, in this work we ask about the political consequences of this confrontation of rights, how this exceptionality affects the effective prosecution of cases of domestic violence, and what are the discourses of feminist activism and politicians on this issue. To answer these questions we will use a qualitative methodological approach which includes documentary analysis of the legislation and management reports, as well as interviews with key informants.