Principios de inmediación y oralidad y la recepción física o digital del expediente del fiscal hacia el Tribunal de Garantías Penales del Ecuador.

Abstract

Remote hearings within Ecuadorian criminal proceedings should be conducted solely during the preparatory-for-trial stage, on the grounds that this stage deals exclusively with matters of procedural admissibility, jurisdiction, preliminary issues, and their respective procedural formalities. However, regarding the trial stage, it is suggested that the Comprehensive Organic Penal Code be amended to specify that hearings held during this phase must be strict in person. This is because the trial stage is where the final judgment—specifically, a conviction—is rendered; consequently, the physical presence of the parties would assist the court in gaining a better perspective for conducting a critical assessment of the criminal case, based on applicable legal norms. The principles of immediacy, orality, and adversarial procedure require that the hearing take place in the physical presence of the pertinent parties and the judge—particularly during the presentation of evidence attached to the case file. As practical experience has demonstrated, when the procedural parties are not physically present during the production of evidence, these fundamental principles fail to be properly realized, resulting in a violation of the defendant's rights.