Accusatory system budget snags

THE INTRODUCTION  of the accusatory penal system in the First Judicial District of Panama, which handles 50 percent of the criminal cases in the country, is being hampered by lack of funding.

For example, the system, which dramatically reduces the time to process cases,  will require 300 experts, but only 150 have been hired.

The problems have caused the Public Prosecutor’s Office to postpone cases in the system until 2017.

A report of the court reveals that since the introduction  of the system in 2011 in Coclé, Veraguas, Herrera, Los Santos, Chiriquí, Bocas del Toro and the Comarca Ngäbe Buglé, there have been 60,794 audiences, with an average time of 32 minutes each.

The average case under the new system takes 86.4 days to adjudicate, while in the old system it took 278.4 days.

Despite the effectiveness of the accusatory system, the lack of a proper budget has raised concerns about its expansion.

Health officials said that they have requested more funds to hire experts that will be needed under the new system, but that request was not completely fulfilled  reports La Prensa.

Supreme Court Chief Justice José Ayú Prado has also complained that the funds are insufficient for the operation of the new system.

He said no funds were provided until July for the hiring of new personnel, which doesn’t leave enough time to implement the system in September, as planned.