Criminal
2004 Código Procesal Penal introduced adversarial oral trials
Decreto Legislativo 957 enacted the 2004 Código Procesal Penal, phased in across judicial districts to replace inquisitorial procedure with an adversarial model led by the Ministerio Público. Investigation judges control guarantees, and the code provides for plea agreements (terminación anticipada) and effective-collaboration deals used prominently in major corruption cases.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — National criminal code and procedure
- Deadline — Detention: 48 hours generally, up to 15 days for terrorism, drug trafficking and espionage
- Deadline — Preparatory investigation: 120 days, extendable; complex cases eight months
- Deadline — Preventive detention: nine months ordinary, 18 for complex cases
Governing law
- Código PenalDecreto Legislativo 635
- Código Procesal PenalDecreto Legislativo 957
- Ley 30077organised crime
In practice
Effective collaboration agreements under the 2004 code became central to Peru's large corruption investigations, allowing sentence reductions in exchange for verifiable information, and drove the prosecution of senior political figures. The extended 15-day detention window for a defined list of grave offences is set by the Constitution itself, not merely by statute.