Legal approach to cases of repeat offenders with drug addiction in Paraguay

Abstract

This article has been prepared on the basis of an investigation carried out as the final project of the Master’s
Degree in Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure with Emphasis on Adversarial Litigation at Columbia
University, defended in December 2020. The reflections that are presented Their objective is to broaden the
analysis on the legal approach to cases of repeat offenders with drug addiction in Paraguay, taking as a reference
the results of the thesis. For this purpose, a descriptive qualitative study has been carried out that has consisted
of an extensive bibliographic review on doctrine and general and special principles of the process, as well as
the current drug situation in Paraguay, and a review of the current context has been carried out. of the most
emblematic detention center for adolescents in Paraguay as a point of reference, in addition, the institutions
involved in the adolescent criminal process and those involved in the protection of children and adolescents have
been reviewed. A case study has been carried out of 22 cases of criminal proceedings of 6 repeat offenders with
drug addiction represented by the Criminal Public Defender in the Specialized Criminal Court of JA Saldívar
and the main finding is the need for the need for tending actions to a comprehensive case approach that involves
the intervention of various institutions not only within the process but also post-process, in order to accompany
the effective social reintegration process in the offender adolescent.