Título III. Disposiciones transitorias

The provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure repealed by this law shall apply to all cases in which the order opening the trial has been issued.

To that end, the President of the Judicial Branch shall establish the number of judges who shall continue with that procedure and shall distribute the matters.

The first-instance judges and peace judges before whom the summary proceedings are being processed, pursuant to the provisions of the former Code, shall remit it to the Public Prosecutor's Office, which shall continue the investigations in accordance with the rules of this Code. The preliminary examination received by those judges shall have the value that the new Code gives to the statement of the accused person.

For purposes of the Mayan languages referred to in Article 142 of this Code, the Judicial Branch shall organize, within a time limit of two years, the implementation of the mechanisms necessary for its operation.

The rules of the new Code of Criminal Procedure shall govern even for special criminal laws or norms that provide for autonomous procedures for their implementation, which shall be deemed repealed when they are contradictory to this Code.

For cases that are pending, proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with the preceding article.

The President of the Judicial Branch shall determine the judicial auxiliaries, public officials and administrative employees who shall form the staff of the various criminal tribunals.

Before this law enters into force, the Public Prosecutor's Office shall be organized for the performance of the functions that this Code assigns to it.

The Supreme Court of Justice shall organize the Public Criminal Defense Service with due anticipation so that it begins to function efficiently at the moment this law enters into force.

The President of the Judicial Branch shall coordinate and promote all tasks necessary to implement the new criminal justice system.

At least six months before its entry into force, the Judicial Branch shall publicly disseminate the principles and characteristics of this reform; it shall also carry out a program of legal training for citizens, highlighting, in particular, the importance of their participation in the administration of criminal justice and the publicity of the oral trial.

In five municipalities of the Republic where there are no justice of the peace courts and within the time limit of three months, the Supreme Court of Justice shall appoint as peace judges in criminal matters three persons of recognized honorability and community rootedness who can communicate in the predominant language of the region and in Spanish. For the designation of the community judges, the Supreme Court of Justice shall conduct consultations with the different community authorities.

The community peace judges shall have jurisdiction to:

a)Apply the opportunity criterion in the cases and manner authorized by Article 25 of this Code, except for paragraph six.

b)They may hold conciliation hearings and approve agreements between the parties in cases of crimes of private action and crimes of public action dependent on private instance.

c)They shall receive the first statement of the accused person, shall order the applicable personal coercion measures and shall refer the file to the competent court of first instance, placing at its disposition the detainee, if any, in cases of serious crimes or when the opportunity criterion does not apply or conciliation fails.

d)If there is no delegation of the Public Prosecutor's Office, they shall order the removal of corpses, documenting the proceeding in a record in which the circumstances shall be stated.

Said judges shall decide by majority, after prior deliberation, and shall exercise their jurisdiction within the territorial circumscription of the Municipality. The tribunal shall be presided over by the oldest judge and they shall decide in accordance with usages and customs, equity and the general principles of Law where this is possible. Their rulings may not violate the Constitution or the laws. The judicial activity they carry out shall be conducted in accordance with the principles of orality, publicity, immediacy and adversarial proceedings that inspire the accusatory system.

After one year of operation of the community peace courts, with a favorable report from the Supreme Court of Justice, this type of courts shall be implemented in the municipalities of the country where there are no justice of the peace courts.