La limitación del Derecho a la Defensa, en la audiencia de Juicio directo, por la violación del principio de imparcialidad

Abstract

The applicability of the direct procedure in the Ecuadorian legal system has generated disagreement among several legal professionals. According to them, there is an explicit limitation of the defendant’s right to defense and the guarantee of being judged by an impartial judge in this type of procedure. That is because it is the same judge in charge of the substantiation of the flagrant felony hearing, which is also competent to substantiate the case. This circumstance has affected the judge's impartiality since the authority, having known the case from the beginning, concludes an anticipated criterion of the defendant's guilt. For this reason, this research has an objective to determine, based on a qualitative- quantitative investigation, whether it would be necessary to ensure the entire exercise of the defendant's right to defense. Furthermore, the competent judge to conduct the direct trial hearing be designated by drawing lots by law so that the judge can arrive perfectly free of contamination to resolve the defendant's legal situation, taking the evidentiary means of prosecution and exoneration practiced in the corresponding hearing as the only parameters for issuing his decision.