Capacidad probatoria de la prueba pericial criminalística en el nuevo proceso penal acusatorio

Abstract

In the evidentiary activity of the accusatory criminal proceedings currently taking place in the Republic of Ecuador, criminalistic expert evidence plays an essential role; which is constantly present in oral trials, among other reasons, because as the technical-scientific development of society favors new and sophisticated forms of criminal execution, new scientific methods of discovery, revelation, fixation and obtaining evidence are also created to try to give a legal response to the need to keep criminality within admissible limits in any State of Law; presupposing the conduct of a criminal investigation following the requirements of due criminal process. The doctrinal debate on criminalistic expert evidence not only focuses on the probative content that the expert evidence contributes to the specific fact but also on its condition as a means of evidence, as a legal institution of procedural law with a specific purpose within the legal process. Due to the importance that criminalistic expert evidence assumes daily in the investigation of alleged criminal activities and its frequent use as the support for the accusation and, if necessary, as the basis for a technical defense strategy, it is a controversial institution, and it is unlikely to find agreement on its particularities that make it unique.