Evidence-based guidelines to develop the use of plea bargain in Panama.

• In Event: Roundtable: Sharing Experiences of Applied Research for Prosecution Offices' Development in Latin America.

Abstract

The transition to an accusatorial model of criminal prosecution has revolutionized, at least in paper, the way criminal cases are adjudicated in Latin America. Among the many changes involved in this transition, the plea bargain was introduced as an important trial-avoiding mechanism aimed to increase efficiency. So given how relatively new this mechanism is in the region, important questions remain to be answered. First, is the plea bargain being used? And, second, how is the plea bargain being experienced by defendants? In this article we answer these two questions looking at the case of Panama, where plea bargain was first used as a trial-avoiding mechanism in 2011 as the criminal justice system gradually began operating with a new criminal procedure code (Law 63 of 2008). We draw on interviews with criminal justice operators and on judicial data to describe the use of the plea bargain in Panamanian courts; and using original survey data from a sample of 1,578 inmates we share findings on the experiences of defendants with plea bargain. We will discuss how our findings may help the Public Prosecutor's Office of Panama on the development of evidence-based guidelines to develop better conditions for the use of plea bargain.

Author

• Veronica Michel, John Jay College of Criminal Justice