The Judicial Re-invention of the Day-to-day. The Work of Criminal Justice within COVID-19

Abstract

This work explores some of the changes produced within the criminal justice system as a result of the emergence of COVID-19 in Argentina, particularly in the federal courts, which were in charge of the prosecution of breaches of coronavirus-related measures taken to prevent the spread of the pandemic. A qualitative methodological approach has been adopted, based specifically on semi-structured interviews of individuals in key positions, such as heads of courts and their respective secretaries, analyzing their insights about this phenomenon. In this sense, the results we arrived at are related to remote work and its derivations regarding the shorter processing times, the significant increase in causes linked to non-compliance with the restrictions taken by the Executive Power with the aim of avoiding the spread of COVID-19, the shift from individual management to collective management of these causes, which made it possible to lessen the impact of the greater flow of open processes, the place occupied by the kidnapping of vehicles together with the reaction of those who suffered from these kidnappings, and the response of the Justice prone to consider –especially motorcycles– as people’s work tools. As a general conclusion of this research, we can point out the importance of joint work by the members of criminal justice and the search for coordinated actions based on a plurality of commitments in an unprecedented context such as that of the pandemic.