According to the Penal Code, abortions performed in Venezuela are generally illegal. Anyone who induces a woman`s abortion with her consent is punished by 12 to 30 months in prison. If the woman does not agree, the sentence is increased from 15 months to three years in prison. A woman who intentionally performs her own abortion or consents to it being performed by another person is liable to imprisonment from six months to two years. Harsher penalties are imposed if the abortion results in the death of the woman or if it is performed by the woman`s husband or a doctor. Since then, they have been a Chavista “power couple,” although they are not believed to be married. Flores could be appointed to a ministry or other influential position, perhaps – given his legal background – president of the Supreme Court. In June 2020, a report by the American organization Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights documented enforced disappearances in Venezuela in 2018 and 2019. During this period, 724 cases of enforced disappearance of political prisoners were reported. The report states that Venezuelan security forces subjected the disappeared victims to unlawful interrogation procedures accompanied by torture and cruel or inhuman treatment.
The report says the Venezuelan government has used enforced disappearances strategically to silence political opponents and other critical voices it saw as a threat. [138] [139] On the one hand, the fact that the official texts of the laws are not always accessible to the public has affected GlobaLex`s ability to keep this report on Venezuela current. Indeed, the current unreliability of the official publishing body – the Gaceta Oficial (see 3.3.1 below) – for legal texts in Venezuela hinders the ability of most researchers to systematically find and catalogue Venezuelan law. This is true even if a small broadcast of the Gacetas may circulate on Venezuelan territory from time to time. As a result, researching Venezuelan laws and institutions from outside Venezuela has become an increasingly difficult, if not impossible, task over the past five years. By all accounts, Venezuela is experiencing a political, institutional and humanitarian crisis unprecedented in the country`s history. Since 2019, two people – Nicolás Maduro and Juan Guaidó – simultaneously claim to be the legitimate president of Venezuela. This situation, which persisted at the time of going to press, is also problematic on the international scene. Governments around the world are divided over the issue of recognizing the Venezuelan president, and courts in various jurisdictions and international organizations are in trouble when representatives of both regimes have appeared before them to legally represent Venezuela. While the profound implications of this situation are far beyond the scope of this expected update of GlobaLex`s report on Venezuela, two specific consequences of the Venezuelan crisis are worth discussing. Reproductive rights are fundamental human rights recognized by international, regional and national legal frameworks, standards and agreements. In response to the Zika virus, Venezuela must be accountable for its obligations to all affected women.
This corruption is evident in Venezuela`s significant involvement in drug trafficking, Colombian cocaine and other drugs transiting through Venezuela to the United States and Europe. Between 2003 and 2008, Venezuelan authorities seized the fifth largest total amount of cocaine in the world, behind Colombia, the United States, Spain and Panama. [255] In 2006, the government`s agency for combating illicit drug trafficking in Venezuela, the ONA, was integrated into the Office of the country`s vice president. However, many key government and military officials are known for their involvement in drug trafficking; especially with the October 2013 incident, in which Venezuelan National Guard men put 1.3 tons of cocaine on a Paris flight, even though they knew they would not be charged. [256] Venezuela`s legal system is in the tradition of continental law. The supreme judicial body is the Supreme Court or Tribunal Supremo de Justicia, whose judges are elected by Parliament for a two-year term. The National Electoral Council (Consejo Nacional Electoral or CNE) is responsible for electoral processes; It is composed of five principal directors elected by the National Assembly. Supreme Court President Luisa Estela Morales said in December 2009 that Venezuela had moved from a “rigid separation of powers” to a system characterized by “intense coordination” between branches of government. Morales clarified that all power must be independent, adding that “one thing is the separation of powers and another is division.” [190] Despite this brief presentation of the multitude of obstacles hindering, delaying, or hindering systematic research on Venezuelan law, this latest update from GlobaLex brings to its readership the recent organization of Venezuelan executive power (including existing ministries and so-called “sectoral” vice-presidencies), references to the main working paper of the transitional government, as well as an exhaustive list of existing empirical and doctrinal jurisprudence.
Literature on the Venezuelan legal system, published in English to date.
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