Hechos jurídicamente relevantes, hechos indicadores y medios de prueba. Su afectación en el aspecto probatorio del proceso penal

Abstract

The legally relevant facts are an essential aspect in the Colombian legal framework to achieve the proper relationship between an individual and the possible commission of a crime that is defined in our criminal law. Article 250 of the Constitution delegates to the Office of the Public Prosecutor of the Nation the exercise of criminal action and the investigation of facts that meet the characteristics of a crime. Similarly, article 288, paragraph 2, of Act No. 906 of 2004 requires the prosecutor to provide a clear and succinct account of the legally relevant facts that conform to the conduct defined in the Criminal Code as a crime. Despite this express requirement in the law, it is common to see in the course of Colombian criminal proceedings, essentially in the indictment and accusation stages, that prosecutors erroneously relate the indicative facts or means of evidence, rather than the legally relevant facts, which are those that give rise to the initiation of the proceedings.