The Chaco Puede bloc will seek for the provincial Chamber of Deputies to address the repeat offenses project next week, according to legislator Carina Botteri Disoff. The initiative was analyzed for several months with the Ministry of Security and is part of the agenda with which the ruling party intends to respond to crimes committed repetitively.
The proposal differentiates reiteration from recidivism. Recidivism implies a previous final conviction, while reiteration considers the existence of new criminal behaviors attributed to the same person during cases still in progress. According to the legislative explanation, that background could be incorporated as an additional element when a prosecutor requests preventive detention.
That consideration alone would not automatically produce a conviction nor eliminate the judicial analysis of each case file. Preventive detention is a precautionary measure and not a punishment; that is why its application must respect the presumption of innocence and be based on procedural risks and the specific circumstances established by law. The final scope will depend on the text that reaches the chamber and its possible regulation.
Botteri Disoff noted that during the conversations questions arose about the capacity of the penitentiary system and police facilities to house detainees. The response from the Ministry of Security was that expansion works are underway. The deputy also mentioned as a future line of work a regime of asset forfeiture to recover property from convicted individuals, a matter that does not necessarily form part of the same sentence.
The legislator also reviewed other cases on the provincial agenda. She referred to the suspension of the PASO and clarified that electoral savings cannot be automatically allocated to the pediatric hospital. She also mentioned projects to recover from social works and pre-paid health plans the cost of services provided by public hospitals and to organize the care of foreigners, with the intention of unifying criteria.
The ruling party states that there is dialogue with other blocs, but it has not yet reported an agreement that guarantees the votes to approve recidivism. The announced step is to try to include it in next week's agenda. Only the parliamentary debate will show if the wording agreed with Security is maintained, if changes appear, and if the Chamber turns the proposal into law.
