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Paraguay The Penal Code
During the colonial period, criminal justice was administered in
courts in what is now Paraguay according to provisions in several
codes developed by the Spanish. Appeal in specific cases was
referred to higher tribunals in the mother country. Many of those
laws continued to be applied during the period following
independence, except when Paraguayan rulers arbitrarily applied
their own self-made law. In 1883 the nation adopted the Argentine
penal code. This was replaced by a national code drawn up by
Paraguayan jurists in 1890. This code was rewritten in 1910, and
the new code proclaimed in 1914. The 1914 Penal Code, as amended,
was still in force as of 1988.
The code is set forth in two books, each of which has two
sections. The first section of Book I gives general provisions
defining the application of the law and criminal liability,
addressing such issues as mitigating circumstances, insanity, and
multiple crimes. According to the code, active-duty members of the
armed forces come under the jurisdiction of the Military Penal
Code, as do perpetrators of purely military offenses. Section 2 of
Book I establishes punishments and provides for the cancellation of
legal actions and the exercise of prosecution functions. The death
sentence was abolished in 1967, and the punishments provided for
are imprisonment, jailing, exile, suspension fines, and
disqualification. Jailing, which like imprisonment can entail
involuntary labor, is served by those persons convicted of less
serious crimes in special institutions distinct from prisons, which
house those convicted of serious crimes that draw long-term
sentences. Disqualification can entail loss of public office or
loss of public rights, including suffrage and pension benefits.
The first half of Book II of the code comprises a sixteenchapter section that groups offenses into broad categories, defines
specific types of violations, and sets penalties for each type. The
major categories include crimes against the state, against public
order and public authority, and against persons and property. The
second half of Book II sets forth misdemeanor offenses and their
punishments.
Data as of December 1988
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