Nullity and Justice and Peace Law: Order of July 31, 2009, Criminal Cassation Chamber, file 31539.

Abstract

The crime of conspiracy to commit a crime is vital and essential to the justice and peace process. Therefore, it is not feasible to admit that a proceeding of this nature could end without the presence of this punishable conduct, nor is it conceivable that the sentence does not declare the responsibility of the demobilized person within the illegal organization and his entry into it to commit crimes. The work of the Prosecutor's Office and of the other officials involved in the proceedings is aimed at investigating the phenomena of organized crime. In this context, the ruling that puts an end to the proceedings must punish in the first instance for membership in the illegal armed group, because, if you will, the remaining crimes are collateral, in that they derive from the existence of that group, they are its consequence and, therefore, can only be covered in the sentence issued under Law 975 of 2005 if, and only if, there is a prior conviction for conspiracy, since they depend on it. Failure to do so leads, then, to the declaration of nullity of the proceedings. In addition, the Criminal Cassation Chamber outlines several guidelines that, in its opinion, must be observed in justice and peace proceedings.