Abstract

PAREDES VIELMA, Gilberto José; ZERPA BONILLO, Sonia Mercedes  and  ROMERO GONZALEZ, Ana Julia. Right to defence of police officers involved in criminal proceedings for acts of service in Venezuela. Rev. Crim. [online]. 2023, vol.65, n.2, pp.43-55.  Epub Nov 13, 2023. ISSN 1794-3108.  https://doi.org/10.47741/17943108.482.

The right to a defence is a guarantee that forms part of due process in accordance with the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Police officers collaborate with the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the prosecution of criminal acts, and in the exercise of their duties may engage in conduct that may lead to proceedings being brought against them. For this reason, the research analysed the right to defence of police officers involved in proceedings for acts of service in the Mérida State Police. A descriptive, qualitative field study was carried out and a questionnaire containing ten questions with several alternative answers was applied to a sample of 50 people. The results allowed us to infer that service situations are mainly generated by apprehensions in flagrante delicto and arrest procedures, in which officials may incur in irregularities that lead to the opening of disciplinary and criminal investigations, which is why specialised public defence is required. It was concluded that the right to defence should be asserted in administrative and jurisdictional instances, and it is recommended that a Public Defence Office with competence in police criminal matters be set up.

Keywords : Right; defence; police officers; judicial proceedings; acts of service.

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