Mariano H. Cornejo and the jury project in the peruvian criminal justice of the 20th century

Villanueva J.L.R. · Revista de Estudios Historico-Juridicos (2020) · DOI: 10.4067/s0716-54552020000100455

Resumen

Mariano Hilario Cornejo was not a jurist. He was a sociologist mainly influenced by the French positivism, feature which allows identifying the unique way in which he addressed criminal justice, under a discourse that, albeit is not in line with the traditional juridical-procedural discourse, it was quite clear and systematic. This was so up to the point that his ideas were implemented by the Criminal Code of 1920, merit of which, unlike the other Peruvian movements for Criminal Procedure Reform, was to establish a turning point regarding the separation of the investigative and trial functions, which indeed was to be maintained by the subsequent reforms. Thus, in a nutshell, the gravitational change of the reform in terms of criminal justice in Peru took place due to the sociological thinking rather than due to the jurists' influence. From this approach, in this article, Mr. Mariano Hilario Cornejo's thought is examined and recognized as a constant factor in his pathway as professor and politician, based on the central concepts of "balance of powers" and "balance between the power and control mechanisms", which, in the criminal justice scope, allowed him to provide the grounds for the need to implement a jury system in Peru at the turn of the 20th century.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos