Accusatory principle: a constitutional premise of criminal procedure in Colombia?

Abstract

The main purpose of the multiple legislative reforms carried out in several Latin American and European countries has been to incorporate the structure of the adversarial criminal justice system of the United States and with it, some of its essential principles. Among these elements, the accusatory principle is the most important; but, at the same time, it is the one with the most conceptual vagueness. Determining the concept and the precise scope of the accusatory principle is a fundamental task in order to analyze whether it is a necessary constitutional presupposition of criminal procedure in Colombia or whether, on the contrary, it is simply a legislative choice.