ABSTRACT
This chapter deals primarily with Argentina, a nation which epitomizes the deficiencies of the inquisitorial justice system inherited from continental Europe. It discusses the influence of the inquisitorial system in frustrating public confidence in the administration of the criminal justice system, and the role of the prosecution in this system. The chapter analyzes these problems through my experience as a federal judge and Attorney General during the Alfonsín regime, and discuss how the first constitutional government after many years of military rule faced and attempted to solve these serious issues. This intermediate system built into the new code improves Argentina's criminal justice system as it stands today. Unlike the prosecutor, the victim has a personal investment in the outcome of the trial, not only from her goal of having the perpetrator punished, but also because of the decisive bearing of such a conviction on the issue of compensation.
