La independencia judicial, los juicios de degradación y los juicios paralelos

Abstract

The State’s efforts have been insufficient and unremarkable in explaining the criminal process to society. The media have taken on this task to the point that they now have a great influence on the structure of the judicial system and its legitimacy. Given the above, there have been several cases in which the media have conducted parallel trials that have led to the degradation of the criminal defendant or court officer. In this context, it is explained how fundamental rights and guarantees, such as judicial independence and impartiality, are affected by these phenomena. Hand in hand with the concepts of destitution and parallel trials, this work demonstrates –through a qualitative review of cases– that the above-mentioned guarantees are now exposed, and that a new way of bridging judicial information from the State to society is required, as well as the introduction of a mechanism for self-regulation of the journalistic practice.