End of preview - This article contains approximately 655 words.
Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article
Not a Subscriber?
Choose from one of the following options
Back
LatinNews Regional Monitor: Caribbean & Central America - 30 June 2017
NICARAGUA: Contentious penal reform package approved
Nicaragua’s 92-member unicameral legislature last week passed various amendments to the criminal code, in line with a reform package sent down by the government led by President Daniel Ortega. The Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) administration maintains the changes are necessary to protect citizen security – a key priority given that Ortega’s popularity stems in large part from the country’s comparatively low crime rates. However, civil-society groups and other legal experts warn that some of the changes, such as the introduction of so-called ‘technical judges’, are unconstitutional and further politicise the judiciary (which like all other institutions is in any case controlled by the FSLN).
