Reflexiones sobre la nulidad por falta de precisión en los hechos juridicamente relevantes en el proceso penal

Abstract

In this research work we seek to demonstrate the situations in which annulment occurs within the criminal process, specifically due to lack of precision in the legally relevant facts determined by the Attorney General's Office. It will be analyzed how factual indeterminacy can violate the principle of legality and the right to defense, fundamental elements in the criminal process. To do this, the characteristics surrounding this legal phenomenon will be conceptually developed from three aspects: 1) Definition of the concept of legally relevant facts; 2) Different doctrinal and jurisprudential positions on the grounds for annulment within the framework of the Colombian criminal process; and, 3) Doctrinal, legal and jurisprudential development of nullity due to lack of precision in the legally relevant facts. In addition, the relevant jurisprudence and the pronouncements of the Attorney General's Office will be examined to understand how cases of annulment due to lack of precision in the facts have been addressed. The criminal procedural legislation and the internal regulations of the Prosecutor's Office that govern the formulation of charges and the determination of legally relevant facts will be studied. Finally, the question will be raised about whether the lack of precision in the facts on the part of the Attorney General's Office constitutes a violation of the principle of legality and the right to defense, or if, on the contrary, there are mechanisms within the criminal process that allows this indeterminacy to be corrected without affecting the fundamental rights of the accused. It will seek to determine the legal consequences of the annulment and propose recommendations to improve the precision in the formulation of the facts by the Prosecutor's Office.