Cuba Implements New Legal Regulations
Havana, Cuba, Oct 4.- Cuban officials with the Supreme Court, the Attorney General’s Office and the Interior Ministry addressed new regulations relevant to the Cuban Penal Code and the authority of the courts of justice.
During the prime-time TV Show “The Round Table Discussion,” the officials explained that the initiative strengthen state policy in tune with the economic and social transformations underway in the country.
The vice-president of the People’s Supreme Court, Oscar Manuel Silvera, said that a new decree law reinforces the authority of municipal courts of justice to deal with crimes that imply up to 8-year prison terms, formerly up to 3 years imprisonment.
The regulations aimed at taking justice closer to the sites where crimes take place and to the individuals involved, which favors legal decisions, said Silvera who added that the measures pursue the preservation of security and the improvement of the quality of the judicial service, while the right to justice is more effective.
The changes in the Penal Code include the imposition of administrative fines, as long as the crime committed reveals low risk levels, while the sanction to be imposed for such crime does not exceed three years of imprisonment or a fine of up to one thousand-installment pay. This would always require the approval of the prosecution.
Colonel Felix Yanes, second chief of the General Criminal Investigations and Operations Department with the Interior Ministry, said that the new regulations favor case-to-case work with those subjected to up to three-year sanctions. Such work is in tune with the humanitarian principles promoted by the Cuban Revolution.
Cuban Attorney General Rafael Pino explained that acting authorities, such as the Revolutionary Police, now have more authority, so they do not have to necessarily file the cases with the courts. However, the OK by the prosecution is necessary in all cases, as well as the background and characteristics of those involved in crimes and the consequences of such acts.
The officials at the TV show explained that all professionals in charge of enforcing the new regulations were appropriately prepared, with all conditions available. (ACN)
