Delimiting Administrative Offenses and Environmental Crimes in the Peruvian Legal System: Dogmatic Criteria and Application Challenges; [A delimitação entre infração administrativa e delito ambiental no ordenamento jurídico peruano: critérios dogmáticos e problemas de aplicação]

San Martín Villaverde D. · Revista Oficial del Poder Judicial (2026) · DOI: 10.35292/ropj.v18i25.1173

Resumen

The distinction between violations sanctioned by public administration and the classification of environmental crimes is of particular importance for the administration of contemporary justice. In this regard, the Supreme Court of Justice of Peru identified a questionable practice in attributing environmental liability based on facts derived from administrative inspections and addressed the issue within the framework of the Twelfth Supreme Jurisdictional Plenary Session on Criminal Matters, held in Lima in September 2023. This research establishes criteria for distinguishing one from the other in order to determine more precisely the requirements for a violation of administrative environmental regulations to constitute a criminal offense under the current legal framework. The criteria developed herein provide justice administrators with a study that may guide their practice, demonstrating that not every administrative violation constitutes a crime and that the blank criminal statute is a particularly complex legal construct, supported by the mechanisms of oversight and sanctioning powers exercised by public administration.

Instituciones: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú