Contradicción del término “impuber” en la legislación ecuatoriana dentro del marco de la justicia penal juvenil.

Abstract

This work addresses the regulatory contradiction evident in Ecuadorian regulations in relation to the term "prepubescent" and its impact on the criminal liability of minors. The comparison of the discrepancies between the Civil Code and the Organic Code of Children and Adolescents allowed us to reach the resolution that these affect the determination of the age of minors and their treatment in the juvenile criminal justice system. The general objective of the research was to analyze how these differences affect legal security and the application of juvenile criminal law in Ecuador, generating uncertainty in the determination of the criminal responsibility of adolescents in conflict with the law. To do this, a qualitative methodology was used with a legal-dogmatic approach, based on the exegetical and comparative analysis of Ecuadorian regulations. The results obtained show that the lack of harmonization between the Civil Code and the Code of Children and Adolescents affects equity in the application of juvenile criminal law, since it allows contradictory interpretations on the age of criminal responsibility. The solution to this problem lies in the need for a legislative reform that eliminates the classification of prepubescent within the criminal context and unifies the criteria for criminal liability in minors. Thus, the juvenile criminal justice system in Ecuador would be strengthened.