Venezuela launches public consultation to reform criminal justice system

Venezuela's government has initiated a nationwide public consultation aimed at fundamentally reforming the country's criminal justice system. The initiative, announced by Attorney General Larry Devoe, will involve discussions on nine major thematic areas. Key priorities include combating procedural delays, ensuring access to justice, promoting institutional ethics, and upholding judicial independence.

Devoe stated that a presidential commission will travel to all states to meet with interested sectors, organized communities, and human rights movements. The consultation is designed to be inclusive, gathering input from civil society groups directly involved in judicial matters, as well as women's collectives, peasant and indigenous organizations, youth, and workers. A separate phase will focus on internal review among the system's operators.

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In this occasion we have foreseen a national deployment that begins today, the team of this presidential commission will be deployed in all states, meeting with all interested sectors.

"We come to this process to review each of the processes, the practices, the ways of proceeding that each of the actors in the justice system are developing to improve, to transform," Devoe said. The government will also utilize digital platforms for non-presential participation and engage national academies and universities for specialized technical studies. The discussions will cover topics such as 21st-century criminal policy, due process guarantees, efficiency, human talent development, infrastructure, and the use of technology to expedite justice.

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We come to this process to review each of the processes, the practices, the ways of proceeding that each of the actors in the justice system are developing to improve, to transform.