Justice of the peace (Peru)
The Justices of the Peace constitute the lowest hierarchical level in which the Judiciary is organized.
Each district of the country has a justice of the peace. However, there are courts that, based on procedural load reasons, include more than one district; as well as districts that, for the same reasons, have more than one justice of the peace.
The justices of the peace have jurisdiction over minor or less serious matters (only criminal offenses, they cannot hear crimes) and are not subdivided into large specialties.
Classification
The justices of the peace are divided into two types:
- Courts of Justice: In which the judge is a lawyer and resolves by applying national law.
- Courts of Peace (formerly called "Non-Leaded Peace Court"): In which the judge is not a lawyer but a citizen who enjoys prestige. The judge is not obliged to apply national law but also his criterion of justice and equity. This type of court only exists in remote locations that do not have easy access or are not within the competence of a court of law. Contrary to the decision of the justice of the peace, an impeachable means may be brought before the judge of the court of law.
In the cases that are heard by the Justices of the Peace, the appealing means are heard, as a second instance, by the Justices of the Peace, while the challenges to the cases that are heard by these are heard by the Courts of First Instance.
Functions and attributions
Intervenes as a conciliator and helps people resolve their conflicts directly. If no agreement is reached, the justice of the peace may hand down a court ruling. In general, the Justice of the Peace does not need to be a lawyer to hold office. because, preferably, he resolves according to common sense and in fairness to in order to restore neighborhood ties and maintain social peace. Justices of the peace are important in the community because they remain as a great option to resolve conflicts and to sanction or correct them various acts.
The Justice of the Peace has the powers to:
1. Reconcile fairly. That is, it proposes alternative solutions to the parties for the purpose of facilitating a settlement. However, it is forbidden to impose an agreement.
2. Judicial function. It means that if conciliation is not achieved, it exercises jurisdictional functions and therefore can issue a sentence. Judge is pronounced according to the loyal knowledge and belief of him, duly motivated and not being obligatory to base it legally. Its scope covers the criminal and civil matters, as well as amounts, space and territory.
• Regarding Civil matters, it accepts cases of food, evictions and injunctions. However, it cannot fail on link issues marriage, nullity of legal acts and contracts, declaration of heirs, succession rights, wills and rights constitutional. Likewise, in civil cases, the Justices of the Peace have jurisdiction to intervene in patrimonial conflicts of minor value and in cases that deal with freely available rights of the parties. Starting from the premise that it is possible to estimate the claim that is presented in the office of the justice of the peace. When the amount of the claim cannot be determined, the justice of the peace lacks competence to hear the case and must refer it to the specialized judge. • In criminal matters, you can impose sanctions with services to the community and fines for offenses against the person, against the patrimony (theft), against good customs and against tranquility and public safety. He also has the power to detain a person for up to 24 hours, and then formulate the corresponding complaint, if applicable, to the Public Ministry.
Requirements
Who can be justices of the peace?
Candidates for Justice of the Peace must meet the following requirements: 1. Be Peruvian by birth and over 25 years of age. 2. Evidence that you reside for more than three continuous years in the constituency which he is applying for. 3. Know how to read and write. 4. Not be involved in any incompatibility established by law. 5. Have a known occupation. 6. Be proficient, in addition to Spanish, of the language that predominates in the where he will hold office. 7. Have blameless conduct and recognition in your community. The term of office is four years and may be re-elected. Justices of the peace are supported by magistrates, officials and other members of the Judiciary, the Public Ministry, the National Police, the local and regional governments.