“I want, in strict application of the letter of this Constitution, at the same time that I am going to sign it, by authority of the law, by power of the Constitution as head of State, head of Government, president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, I have the deep pleasure of signing the Law for the creation of Justice of Peace as a system of justice elected by the people with Justices of the Peace. It is signed, be it published, disseminates, executes and complied with.”
The words correspond to the president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, after stamping his signature on the Organic Law of Communal Justice of Peace, which was approved by the National Assembly on Tuesday, November 12.
President Maduro stressed the importance of this legal instrument for the construction of the new Venezuelan State, recalling that «In 1999 we talked about justice for the peace,» despite previous attempts to implement this system, he acknowledged that «it worked, so-so over here, so-so over there,» but assured that now it is looked “to take it to the magnitude and possibility of the system of justice, from the bases, of peace.»
During the broadcast on social networks of the «Con Maduro De Repente” (Suddenly With Maduro”) program, the Head of State emphasized that the Justice for the Peace aims to prevent conflicts and heal wounds in Venezuelan society, stating that «without justice there is no peace, without justice there is no society.»
In this sense, he stressed that with this law the «model State in democracy» is built, where the civilization of justice, love and great values are respected.
For his part, the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, recalled that the head of State and Government, Nicolás Maduro, had raised the need for this reform during the installation of the judicial year on January 31:
“You raised the need for us to approve this law, which is a fundamental law, a very profound reform of the law,” said Rodríguez.
He also stressed that article 258 of the Constitution establishes the importance of alternative forms of justice, and that, although there was already a law on the matter, it had not had the necessary force for its effective application:
“There was a very important consultation with all sectors of the People’s Power, the communal councils, the communes intervened and thus was achieved the reform of 24 articles of that law“, he explained, adding that it was adapted so that it can be applied correctly.
Rodríguez also clarified how the process of electing justices of the peace will be carried out, indicating that “they are elected by direct, secret vote, in the territorial area corresponding to the commune or the communal councils.”
“They are alternative mechanisms of justice, but above all alternative mechanisms of reconciliation that under certain principles, which are the principles of equity, the principles of justice (…), give strength and power to the judges. The constitution says that these judges are elected by direct, secret vote, up to three justices of the peace are elected with their corresponding substitute and they have a collegiated function,” he described.
