Plea bargains to reduce court baklogs

A DRAFT LAW to  allow plea bargaining will drastically reduce the backlog  of  pending cases before Panama courts  but, it should be expanded to require that details of the deals are made public says Administrative Prosecutor  Rigoberto González.

He said that while reducing  the backlog of cases it will allow prosecutors to better conduct extensive criminal investigations.

But he stressed  that the public  has the right to know the details of the deals that are reached.

According to González, the  proposal could be applicable in the investigation of the Odebrecht case.

However, he said that the agreement should be made public to ensure that the perpetrators are being properly punished. He said the community has the right to know the details and scope of any agreement in a case involving millions of dollars in state money.

At the same time, he emphasized that this type of agreement should only proceed when the defendants cooperate by providing  evidence that allows prosecutors to  determine the events related to the case.