La violación del derecho a la defensa en el procedimiento expedito de contraversiones de tránsito

Abstract

This research is aimed at studying the violation of the right to defense in the expedited procedure of traffic violations. For its development, the general objective was to promote a legal reform in said procedure and among the specific ones are to specify the theoretical foundations of the criminal offense of traffic in Ecuador. In addition to identifying when the expedited procedure for traffic offenses leaves both the victim and the accused of a traffic offense defenseless and preparing a legal reform that effectively allows the right to defense, in that context. To complement these, a study was carried out from theoretical foundations of issues such as: general notions about crime as a definition, elements and criminal offense, its differences with the criminal types. Some general questions related to criminal action, the procedural impulse, the private accusation and the principle of lesividad are also studied. Likewise, the doctrine and national legal regulation of the right to due process were reviewed and, especially within this, the right to defense and the guarantees that comprise it. Issues concerning the notification and citation of violations in the country, the right to effective judicial protection and the particularities of the expedited procedure for traffic violations were examined. All this constitutes the support of the reform proposal that is carried out in the investigation of articles 642, 644 of the COIP and article 238 of the General Regulation to the Organic Law of Land Transportation, Traffic and Road Safety to make effective the right to defense of victims and offenders in the expedited procedure and ensures the right to effective judicial protection.