|
|
BEFORE
|
AFTER |
 |
CRIMINAL
LAW |
| Did
not respect basic due process guarantees, Constitutional rights
and international
human rights treaties |
Guarantees
right to trial, due process and presumption of innocence as per
constitution
and international treaties. |
| Permitted
unlimited pretrial detention for even minor crimes; punished all
crimes
with fines or imprisonment, regardless of severity. |
Allows
release on bail and limits pretrial detention to 90 days; allows
house
arrest, probation and other alternatives to imprisonment for
minor crimes. |
| Did
not codify many criminal acts, such as domestic violence, sexual
harassment,
commercial monopolies, abductions, money laundering,
etc. |
Specifies
numerous crimes including domestic violence, torture, government
corruption,
money laundering and environmental crimes. |
| Full
criminal process was applied to all crimes, overburdening the
system with
trivial cases. |
Allows
various alternatives, such as conciliation, to resolve minor
crimes. |
| Did
not address organized crime. |
Defines
accessory crimes, making it possible to establish various levels
of responsibility
and combat organized crime. |
| Victims
had limited ability to participate in trials. |
Victims
have right to active participation in trial and their testimony
is admissible
as evidence. |
| Narrow
and rigid rules of evidence; allowed guilt to be inferred in
some crimes
in the absence of direct evidence. |
Broader
definition of evidence; emphasis on investigative and scientific
evidence
and assessment of concrete facts in each case. |
 |
FAMILY
LAW |
| Did
not recognize common-law unions or the property rights of
children resulting
from them. |
Gives
legal standing to common-law unions and eliminates all
discrimination
based on marital status of parents. |
| Favored
men over women in disputes concerning marriage, property or
child custody. |
Gives
men and women equal rights and responsibilities in marriage,
property
and child custody. |
| Did
not establish the fundamental rights of minors or the elderly,
and did
not specify the state's obligation to protect the rights of
families,
minors or the elderly. |
Specifies
the fundamental
rights of minors and the elderly and establishes the state's
duty to
protect families, minors and the elderly.
|
| Permitted
divorce only for causes codified in the law and usually imposed
sanctions
on one of the spouses. |
Permits
divorce to legally terminate a marriage that has ended in fact;
gives
judge discretion to assess motives. |
 |
JUVENILE
LAW |
| Did
not apply a special legal regime to juvenile delinquents as
required by
the Salvadoran constitution since 1950. |
Applies
a special legal regime to juveniles based on modern juvenile law
principles
and international conventions. |
| Did
not provide juveniles with substantive, due process or
sentencing guarantees
offered to adults. |
Gives
juveniles most of the same substantive, due process and
sentencing guarantees
offered to adults. |
| Regarded
juvenile criminal behavior as a symptom of disease, to be
treated by separating
the minor from society. |
Does
not consider criminal acts a disease; emphasis on reeducation
through
means other than imprisonment. |
