The previous statements in the oral trial and the Accusatory Penal System

Abstract

The statements collected in the investigative phase acquire evidentiary significance when they are reaffirmed in the trial, which  means that their incorporation is restricted in relation to the principles of publicity, contradiction, concentration and immediacy, within the framework of the accusatory criminal system in force in Colombia. The objective of this article is to offer inputs in order to determine the true context in which prior statements should be used in the oral trial. A comparative analysis between the current regulations, its jurisprudential development and the doctrine, with what is seen in judicial practice, allows us to notice an inadequate use of prior statements, which is at odds with the aforementioned principles, since it is common for acts of investigation to enter the oral trial without exhausting the requirements for their incorporation.