SAN CARLOS UNIVERSITY OF GUATEMALA

ZACAPA UNIVERSITY CENTER (CUNZAC)

LEGAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES, LAWYER AND NOTARY
IV SEMESTER
CRIMINAL LAW II
LICDA. CAROL VARGAS

Miculax Case

CLAUDIA RENATA NORIEGA ESTRADA

200211772
 Index

INTRODUCTION.............................................................. i

Miculax, the first Guatemalan serial killer………………………………..1

Common questions about the Miculax case............................2
The facts..........................................................2
The capture...............................................................2

Miculax Law
The Execution..............................................................................3

The first crime...

Method of operation
Origin of the victims................................................5
Last Will and Testament......................................................................5

Criminological Profile…………………………………………………………………6
Student's criterion based on Criminal Anthropology, Psychology
Criminal, the schools of Criminal Law and the theory of association
differential in the Miculax case……………………………………………………………..6
Criminal Anthropology……………………………………………………………………….6
Criminal Psychology..........................................................7

Differential Association Theory…………………………………………………………..7

How the process was carried out with the Miculax law……………………………………………7
Due process criteria………………………………………………………………..10
Trial Mariano Macu Miculax……………………………………………………………...10
Criteria on interrogation..........................................................11

Death Penalty
Crimes committed in the Miculax case………………………………………………………14
Principles and guarantees violated....................................................15

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………….17
e-graphy…………………………………………………………………………………………18
 INTRODUCTION

Throughout our history as a country, we have had countless evolutions.

as a country, and that is why we must be observers of history as a source
of law, in criminal matters, the actions of man are a key point to subscribe
The established norms are atypical behaviors that generate legislation on this.
For this reason, today we mention a historical Guatemalan case.
presented below.

I
Miculax, the first serial killer from Guatemala:
Between February and April 1946, José María Miculax Bux killed 15 children and
adolescents aged between 11 and 18 years. The victims came from Guatemala, Mixco.
Santa Catarina Pinula, La Antigua Guatemala and San Pedro Sacatepéquez. The
society called for prompt action from the authorities. On April 26, the criminal was
captured and executed by a firing squad on July 17.
This was the story of what is known as the first serial killer.
Guatemalan. Around the horrendous crimes and the actions of the
authorities of that time, there were circumstances that marked the laws, the
science and even the legends of that time.
The pressure exerted by the outraged population in response to the events made it so that the
President of the Republic, Juan José Arévalo Bermejo, will promulgate decree 235
to expedite judicial processes, achieving a swift execution
of the criminal. This decree was called the Miculax Law.
The coldness with which the 21-year-old killer confessed to the rapes and
murders surprised the scientific community of those times. Because of that
reason, the psychology experts requested that the corpse be decapitated, to
to be able to study your head.

At that time, it was believed that the traits, size, and certain characteristics of
skull
and the brain determined psychopathic behavior, so a request was made to the
Doctor Carlos Federico Mora will carry out the investigations he deems necessary.
relevant. The head was for a long time in the University Paraninfo.
Over time, Miculax became a legendary figure with whom the
mothers in the 1940s and 1950s threatened their children when they didn't
they behaved well.
 1
Common questions about the Miculax case

Is this case being investigated for profanity? Was due process followed? Was it fiction?
or reality?... or was the public vengeance simply satisfied. To find these
responses we need to know the following:
The facts:
José Miculax, internationally known as The Monster of Guatemala.
José Miculax was executed by firing squad on June 18, 1946.

José María Miculax was a serial killer who between the months of January to April
in the year 1946, he murdered, in the company of his cousin Mariano Macú Miculax, a
a total of 15 children and adolescents. The abhorrent couple was sexually abusing the
youngsters, while they were suffocating them using a rope with which they tied the
hands and the neck of their victims.
That psychopath, born in 1925, created an atmosphere of uncertainty and fear in the
Guatemala of those days, forcing all security forces to
to hunt down the individual involved in these acts.
At this time, the inhabitants of the capital city, Mixco, and La Antigua were
witnesses of the appearance of the bodies of the murdered young men at intervals
relatively short, at times almost daily, which increased the
fear, as well as public pressure on the security forces and the
administration of President Juan José Arévalo.
The capture
Among the recognized victims in this case are five teenagers aged 15.
ages, two of 14 years, four of 13 years, three of 12 years and one of 11 years.
It was at the end of April 1946, when finally, after the description
provided by an old woman, who captured Miculax and later, his
cousin Mariano.
José María Miculax confessed without difficulty before the 5th Peace Judge his crimes,
pointing to Mariano as his accomplice. He, in turn, denied the facts, but,
After a confrontation, the authorities noticed the inconsistencies and charged him as well.

Several children, who had managed to escape the clutches of Miculax, were
called by the authorities to carry out the identification. Likewise, the woman
who had previously provided a description contributed an important piece of information, for
Miculax had a walking problem that made him noticeable. Thus, the same
the accused led the police to where two corpses were still located
they had found.
Miculax Law
Much was said about the role President Arévalo would have played in all of this.
2
but what was evident is that to judge the murderer and his cousin, a law was enacted
a special legislation that abbreviated the procedures. It is the decree
235 of the Congress of the Republic popularly known as the Miculax Law.
The recitals of the Miculax Law stated Considering: that there are
criminal acts whose commission by their nature causes justified alarm in the
society and demand a quick procedure for the law to be applied without
more delay than strictly necessary for the fact-checking and
the exercise of the right to defense of the accused in order to restore the
social tranquility.
Under the so-called Miculax Law, the accused, who had been captured on the 26th and 27th
in April 1946, they received their sentence on June 18 of the same year. José
María Miculax Bux was sentenced to capital punishment and her cousin, Mariano Macú.
Miculax, sentenced to 30 years in prison.

After going through all the legal instances, José Miculax Bux faced the firing squad.
execution on July 18, 1946. The execution was public and attended by a
crowd that gathered in front of the outer wall of the General Cemetery, where
Miculax drank his last two eighths and received spiritual assistance.
The execution
Moments before being shot by the firing squad, he was shouting that he wanted to speak to them.
the witnesses insisting that he had only killed four and his cousin the rest
and they left this one alive. The legend of the serial killer grew when,
following the execution, the Faculty of Medicine at the University of San
Carlos decided to conduct studies on the corpse, particularly on the head of the criminal.
for which it was removed from the body, until in the 1990s it was reported that the
it had been stolen.
For many later generations of children, this character from Guatemala
from yesterday, became the warning to avoid contact with strangers and
even to maintain the behavior that their parents expected of them, but
beyond that, Miculax was the warning for anyone who decided to travel
his steps.
Miculax was executed by a summary procedure, driven during the
Arévalo's government and motivated by the alarm of society in those days.
In 1946, Guatemalan society sent a clear message to everyone.
criminal who threatens the tranquility of the country and the safety of its citizens,
especially children and adolescents.
The trial and execution of Miculax, as well as all the actions carried out
to achieve this, they became a true warning of what would happen to
anyone who followed in the footsteps of the sadly famous killer.
3

The first crime

Miculax's first crime was on February 22, 1945, and the victim was a child.
who was walking, alongside two mules, through El Naranjo.

A day later, the lifeless body was found without pants, kneeling in the sand and against
a wall, with arms tied and a rope around the neck, according to quote
a report from the Association for the Promotion of Historical Studies of
Central America.

Method of operation
Forensic experts indicated that the way Miculax operates and his
First, they used to locate the victims near ravines, convincing them that they would give them.
rabbits and then they would put ropes or wires around their necks, they would pull down their pants,
they were raped and then killed.
 4

Origin of the victims:

The victims, both dead and survivors, were originally from Guatemala.
Mixco, Santa Catarina Pinula, Antigua Guatemala and San Pedro Sacatepéquez.

The social pressure and outrage over the deaths of children, cases that became
frequent, caused the then president, Juan José Arévalo,
it will be decreed that upon capturing the responsible party, a quick trial be held and receive a
penalty.

Last Will

On July 17, Miculax left from what is now the Courts Tower in the capital and
walked for the last time on 19th street, zone 1. His last request was to carry a
a suit, a hat, a tie and two eighths. Then he was executed.

Psychology experts wanted to evaluate Miculax's head, so after that,

they shot him; they decapitated him. They wanted to determine if there were traits in his brain of
behaviors of a psychopath.
 5

The head remained in the University Parlor, but now there are no records.
from its location. The government decided not to place a tombstone at the site where it
he buried it to prevent them from performing rites.

Criminological Profile of José María Miculax and Mariano Macu Miculax:

Serial Killers.

Personality Disorder:

Passive Aggressive. People who appeared very calm in front of society but their
aggressiveness was reflected with the children.

Obsessive compulsive. Since they became obsessed with violating, strangling, only to
children.

Abnormal behavior:

Defective social functioning. Since he was not able to coexist with children, to
on the contrary, it provoked with them the depraved excitement of raping and strangling the
children

Defective self-control. They were not able to control those aberrant impulses.

Psychopaths.

They were already antisocial, immoral, deriving sexual pleasure from pain and death of
the children, through their agony, were manipulators, they did not feel anguish seeing
in children suffering, they were not intelligent, much less did they feel pain for it.
what they did, they lacked the ability to distinguish between good and evil since afterwards
They continued with their daily lives as if nothing had happened, perpetuating the crime.

They were using sadism. Since they enjoyed seeing the physical and psychic suffering of the
male children for their sexual excitement and satisfaction.

Student's criteria based on Criminal Anthropology, Psychology

Criminal, the schools of Criminal Law and the theory of association
differential in the Miculax case.
Criminal anthropology: It is the study of antisocial phenomena, from a
biological and social perspective.

Criminal Psychology: also called criminology, studies behavior of

the people who have committed a crime and try to understand the why and the
How... The work of the criminal psychologist focuses on the victim and the offender.

The Schools of Criminal Law: The Schools of Criminal Law are a

set of doctrines and principles that aim through a method
to investigate the philosophy of the right to punish, the legitimacy of Jus Puniendi
nature of the crime and the purposes of punishment.

Differential association theory: it states that individuals learn to be

criminals due to cultural transmission, a situation that occurs particularly in
certain groups where criminal activities are carried out routinely
and are thus reinforced as something positive.

Currently, after years of experiencing the criminal events that took place in its
moment they realized the Miculax and which left us with a plethora of doubts in
subjects such as criminal anthropology which I don't believe was influential since
At the time these acts took place, society was very conservative.
Although biologically they could have had an influence since two members of
a family had the psychopathic criminal profile.

We must remember that Miculax was beheaded in order to be able to study his
head and brain, trying to find answers to the why and how of the
crimes.

Regarding the school of criminal law, I believe there are foundations and principles.
to believe that the sentence was in accordance with the severity of the crimes committed.

I don't see it logically that there is a type of differential association regarding learning the
crime or look at it from a cultural perspective.

HOW THE PROCESS WAS CARRIED OUT WITH THE MICULAX LAW

José Miculax Bux, intellectual actor of more than 15 deaths of minors.

aged between 12 and 16 years, who to their macabre and ruthless acts
his brother Mariano Macu Miculax accompanied him, who sowed panic,
anguish, restlessness, and fear among the population during the government of
Doctor Juan José Arévalo Bermejo, President of the Republic of Guatemala
who orders the swift capture of those responsible, applying the full weight of the
law, due to the terror that they were sowing among the inhabitants, therefore
his actions were focused on what is written in the constitution of the Republic of
Guatemala establishes in Art. 47. Protection of the Family "The state
guarantees the social, economic, and legal protection of the family." However, the
popular hatred began to grow within the population's desire to seek justice for

his hands when the capture of the person responsible for those was made known
crimes. Likewise, it was not necessary for José Miculax to admit to having strangled
the 12 children of whom he was pointed out as responsible and non-compliant
the accused assisted justice by leading them to three other places where at each one
a minor was found dead and had been gone for several days
cruelly murdered, the horror and anger are seen on the faces of those
men who with courage, hatred, and disgust discovered the corpses of the
little innocents who reflected in their faces the suffering caused to them
before dying.

Actor of 15 crimes, of which it is unknown if this number rises any higher,

Within everything that happened, an unfounded fear remained in the population.
taking advantage of the moment, a few criminals to carry out their misdeeds
and thus make believe that the true killer was still free, to which the Guard
Civil declared that they had the real culprits in the process of trial.
those macabre deaths, which were going to do everything possible to return the
tranquility to their homes. As part of the measure to bring it faster
the trial process reforms the penal code, leaving the report structured
in the quickest way that is applied in special cases such as that of the
Miculax brothers, throughout the process they were summoned and the evidence was taken.
processed and the acceptance of guilt by one of the accused, in
coordination with the law was decreed that they were deemed exhausted
researches and that a public defender had to be appointed because of the
the accused could not pay for a public defender, within the articles also
stipulates, stating that the trial will open within 10 days during which
they would allege to provide validity to the ruling pronounced, it is determined that the
trial period that expires within the following 24 hours and ends
48 hours later, where having the necessary resource the judge will issue a ruling or
If necessary, I would give a period of 5 days for the ruling on it, if the party
The accused requires an appeal; this occurs at the time of the sentence.
which must be expressed verbally or in writing within 24 hours
Following the notification of the ruling, the notifications to the processed will be
personal and must be carried out on the same day they were issued, by these
reasons the Public Prosecutor's Office will be the accusing party in the processes that refer to
the present law, due to the strict responsibility regarding the cases. Remaining
it is established that any infringement of this law will be punished with a fine of
Q.25.000.00 to Q.50.000.00 depending on the severity of the problem, after having
the modification of the Penal Code is referred to as the Law mentioned above
Miculax.
 The alarming population has been alert to any similar case.
that could happen, where cases of abduction of minors were reported and
cases that keep society in constant alarm, the people demanded the
punish the murderers and let this serve as an example for other people
they intended to do the same.

The legislative decree 235. Establishes a fast procedure for the law to be
apply without further delay than strictly necessary to the criminal acts
whose nature requires it. During the process of confessing the crimes
José Miculax Bux accepted to be the intellectual actor of 21 crimes out of 24 that were attributed to him.
they were indicated, while his brother Mariano Macu Miculax denied having
participated in all the crimes he was pointed out for, while José
Miculax Bux does not flinch in the slightest to accept his offenses.
brother showed fear, anger, and confusion while at the same time denying his
Participation. After the Public Prosecutor's Office presented its requests and the
Fourth court would issue the sentence that corresponds to the two defendants of
quick way according to the already established reforms. Remaining in
the following sentence: José Miculax Bux is sentenced to death with the
what will pay for the chilling series of murders, totaling 8 to which
also added are the attempts made in person to several minors before
cause their death. At the time of delivering the corresponding notification
José Miculax Bux was startled and turned pale as he did not expect such a sentence, at the end.
The defendant questioned in the notification, 'Am I the only one who is going to be killed?'
Perhaps between the two, his brother was the worse, or they find him to be so for being honest.
more guilty while the other denied everything even knowing that the investigations
The investigations revealed that he had lied because he was never where
he said, perhaps justice was not so just but if we are sure of anything, it is that the
criminal investigations were not as precise as they are today. Like
the last appeal the accused had the right to request a space with the president and
to convince him otherwise, to which the grace appeal was denied by the
President of the Republic of Guatemala. Within the sentence several
Professionals expressed their views in which they stated that they did not agree.
with the ruling made, since there was a cadence of sufficient evidence
to judge the accused, there was no one to identify them at the scene of the
crime and the only resource that the Public Ministry had was the acceptance of
criminal, where he placed his brother at the crime scene, reason
because the professionals were dissatisfied with the resolution of the case, as
During the course, several articles of the law were violated.

The defender of José Miculax Bux filed the sanction appeal against the ruling of
death appealing that article 22, section 9 of the Penal Code was violated and due to the
constitutionality of the process that violated Art. 49 of the constitution. Where
it also issued a ruling and the death sentence was rectified. Meanwhile, Mariano Macu
Miculax received a sentence of 30 years of non-commutable corrective imprisonment.

Criterion of Due Process:

What is due process: Due process is the set of formalities

essentials that must be observed in any legal procedure, to ensure
to defend the rights and freedoms of every person accused of committing a
crime.

Foundation of due process.

The Political Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala in its Article 12 states:

No one shall be condemned or deprived of their rights without having been summoned,
heard and defeated in legal proceedings before a competent Judge or court and
pre-established.

It is undeniable that the Miculax process was influenced by the social reaction that
they generated the execrable crimes against decency that were committed against children
innocents, a number of honorable citizens and parents addressing
the Presidents of the State Organizations requesting the prompt and effective
execution of Jose Miculax Bux and Mariano Macu Miculax.

It is interesting how the inquiries are described from which one can deduce the
the personality of each of the defendants and form a critical judgment, for
Thus, the trial questioned that the universal principle was not respected.
consistent where no one can be convicted unless there is evidence of
that the crime existed and that the accused committed it.

Trial Mariano Macu Miculax

As part of his individual trial, Mariano Macu Miculax was also taken to
interrogation where it establishes that during his investigation the criminal showed himself
spontaneously in confession, for he was sure of what he was saying and more
knowing that there was no strong evidence against him there was not
absolutely nothing that would guide the judicial investigation towards him, the
The lawyer claims in the defense of the accused that he is innocent of what he is being charged with.
accuses, where it indicates that there are several pieces of evidence showing that he was not with her.
to José Miculax Bux and that there are people who testify in favor of it as proof.
Throughout the process, evidence was presented that gives rise to presumptions.
founded on their innocence, as they were; it is noted that in several of the crimes
what he is accused of, he was not in those places, that the accused is not
homosexual because it is very difficult for me to engage in such dishonest practices now
that he is a married man with children, he also stated that he did not know in the
jail to José Miculax Bux as the late had stated, for all that
previously mentioned, in the event that the Public Ministry requested that
to improve failure in a car, those tasks are sent to practice, who is estimated
that the judge must result as a great reserve. As a result of everything
the process is demonstrated that with the actions requested by the Ministry
Only a negative test would be obtained from the public, which cannot be
detach in a way

10

someone who was incriminated to Mariano Macu Miculax. Once filled out the

requirements of the law, the Judge gives his ruling in accordance with the code
Criminal code accompanied by the Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala in which
Lack of evidence, Mariano Macu cannot be sentenced to death.
Miculax since according to the laws it is established that this does not proceed in
pronunciations, if the judge does not find another evidentiary means in the appeal
of appeal of evidence, he was ACQUITTED DUE TO LACK OF EVIDENCE
And must serve an immediate sentence lower in the scale of criminality.

Criterion on interrogation in the Miculax case

It is a lot to think about after confirming through studies and knowledge of the
facts that the two involved in the miculax case provided very responses
different in their interrogations giving a total confession of the facts
criminal while the other denied and did not succumb to the pressure from the guard
civil, public ministry and society, currently we find that one
one suffered from a certain mental disorder and the other had a full capacity both without
greater intelligence.

The shameless way in which Jose Miculax even guides the scenes.
and places where the bodies that had not yet been discovered were located
makes us think nothing but hatred and cruelty on the part of the now convicted
death.

Death Penalty:

Definition of the death penalty:

The death penalty is the capital legal sanction, the most severe of all.
consisting of taking the life of a condemned person through the procedures and
execution bodies established by the legal order that institutes them.

Article 18 Political Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala:

Article 18 The death penalty may not be imposed in the following cases: a) With
foundation based on assumptions; b) To women; c) To those over sixty years old;
d) To inmates of political crimes and those commonly connected with political crimes; and e) To inmates
whose extradition has been granted under that condition. Against the sentence that
the death penalty will be imposed, all legal remedies will be admissible
relevant, including that of cassation; this will always be admitted for processing.
The sentence will be executed after all resources have been exhausted. The Congress of the
The Republic may abolish the death penalty.

11

ARTICLE 43. Penal Code The death penalty has an extraordinary character and
it can only be applied in the cases expressly provided for in the law and not
it will execute, but only after all legal resources have been exhausted.

The death penalty shall not be imposed:

For political offenses.

2o. When the conviction is based on presumptions.

30. To women.

40. Men over seventy years old.

To persons whose extradition has been granted under that condition.

In these cases and whenever the death penalty was commuted to a

deprivation of liberty, the maximum prison sentence will be applied.

Guatemala last applied the death penalty in 2000, however, the

The legality of that figure is in question following the San José Pact.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the Assembly

United Nations (UN) General Assembly in December 1948 in response to the
amazing degree of brutality and state terror of World War II,
recognizes the right of every individual to life (article 3) and affirms
categorically: "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,
inhuman or degrading" (article 5).

In Amnesty International's opinion, the death penalty violates these rights.

The approval of international and regional treaties that provide for their abolition
clearly supports this opinion:

The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Civil and Political Rights, aimed at abolishing the death penalty, adopted by the
UN General Assembly in 1989 established the total abolition of the
death penalty, but allows the States Parties to maintain it in time
of war if they state their reservation to that effect at the time of ratification
the protocol or to adhere to it.

Protocol No. 6 of the Convention for the Protection of Rights

Humans and Fundamental Freedoms (European Convention of
Human Rights), relating to the abolition of the death penalty, adopted
by the Council of Europe in 1982, provides for the abolition of the death penalty
death

12

in times of peace. The State Parties may maintain it for crimes 'in times
of war or of imminent danger of war.

The Protocol of the American Convention on Human Rights

regarding the Abolition of the Death Penalty, adopted by the Assembly
General of the Organization of American States in 1990, provides the
total abolition of the death penalty, but allows the States Parties
preserve it in wartime if they note their reservation for that purpose in
the moment to ratify the protocol or to adhere to it.

Protocol No. 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights,

adopted by the Council of Europe in 2002, establishes the abolition of the
death penalty in all circumstances, even in times of war or
of imminent danger of war. Every State Party to the European Convention
of Human Rights can also become a Party State in the
Protocol.

Legal vacuum

The death penalty is enshrined in the Constitution and the Penal Code of the country, but
has not been applied since the 2000s due to a legal loophole. Former President Alfonso
Portillo (2000-2004) repealed in his last year of office the law that regulated the
pardon and allowed the president to suspend or not the execution.

Unconstitutional

The Constitutional Court of Guatemala declared unconstitutional in 2017 the

application of the death penalty in cases of parricide, murder, execution
extrajudicial, kidnapping, disappearance and assassination, in a resolution in which
argued that this type of conviction violates international agreements on
Human Rights.

The Miculax Case and the Death Penalty:

Whenever the topic of 'The Death Penalty' is addressed, discussions begin.

Byzantines, neither Tyrians nor Trojans, seem to be right, since the penalty of
Dead as Criminal Policy is a response to a multitude of problems.
We will omit the criminological considerations of the topic; we will start from the
the factual fact that the death penalty is in effect in Guatemala, whose purposes are in my
concept has not been fulfilled. A contemporary example to explain this
the situation is the de facto military regime that Guatemala suffered in 1982, when
a religious fanatic imposed death penalties with Special Jurisdiction Courts,
that

13

far from avoiding crime, it reproduced and increased, according to police statistics
and judicial. We refer to a case that moved public opinion in the
the '40s' known as 'The Miculax Case'.

Based on the procedural records and the promulgation of decree 235 of

Congress of the Republic that reforms the code of criminal procedure, is the
speed with which the death sentence was produced and the penalty was executed on José
Miculax Bux responds to an unjust shooting that took place in response to
public outcry for revenge. It will always remain in doubt whether it really did not
It was about a mental patient who needed to undergo treatment.
psychiatric. Evidently, the fact of child abuse is reprehensible and
considerable, however, for a judgment to occur in a process
In criminal cases, there must be evidence that implicates the accused.

Crimes committed by the Miculax in the current penal code

MURDER

ARTICLE 132. A person commits murder if they kill another person.

With premeditation
2) For price, reward, promise, profit motivation

3) By means of or in the event of flood, fire, poison, explosion,

collapse, building collapse or another structure that could cause great
ruin

4) With known premeditation

With cruelty

With a drive of brutal wickedness

7) To prepare, facilitate, consummate and conceal another crime or to ensure their

results or immunity for itself or for co-participants or for not having obtained the
result that would have been proposed when trying the other punishable act

For terrorist purposes or in the course of terrorist activities

The murder convict will be sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison, however, he will be

the death penalty will be applied instead of the maximum prison sentence, if due to the
circumstances of the fact and the occasion, the manner of carrying it out and the motives
determinants will reveal a greater particular danger of the agent.

14

Those who are not subject to the death penalty for this crime shall not
to grant a reduction of sentence for no reason.

Article 173. Violation. Whoever, with physical or psychological violence, gains access
carnal through vaginal, anal or oral means with another person, or insert any part
of the body or objects, through any of the indicated means, or compel another
a person introducing themselves will be punished with a prison sentence of
eight to twelve years.

This crime is always committed when the victim is a minor.

fourteen years of age, or when they are a person with a lack of willpower or
cognitive, even when there is no physical or psychological violence involved.

The penalty will be imposed without prejudice to the penalties that may correspond for the
commission of other crimes.

Principles and guarantees violated in the Miculax case

The Principle of Legality is a fundamental principle, according to which everything

exercise of a public authority must be carried out in accordance with the current law and its
jurisdiction, not to the will of the people. If a State adheres to this
principle then the actions of its powers would be subject to the
Constitution and to the current state or to the empire of the law.

Due process is a set of procedural guarantees that aim to

assist individuals during the development of the process, thus protecting them from the
abuses of authorities and allowing them to defend their rights. ... It is
the inviolable defense in court of the person and of rights...

The Constitution establishes a catalog of guiding principles and guarantees.

procedural guidelines that orient and illustrate the criminal process that serve for protection
of the accused in criminal proceedings, and to contain to some extent that unlimited power
from the State.

The procedural guarantees are of mandatory application, so their

non-compliance turns the criminal process into arbitrary and contrary to rights
fundamental contents in the Constitution. Those guarantees are also included in the
San José Pact, as failing to comply carries the responsibility of the State.
before the Inter-American System of Human Rights.

15

Some violated guarantees in the Miculax case are:

to be heard with the due guarantees and within a reasonable time by a judge
competent, independent, and impartial, established previously by law; the
presumption of innocence; right to defense, right not to be forced to
to declare against oneself or to plead guilty and the right to appeal the ruling before
Superior Court.
 16

CONCLUSION.

With everything mentioned above, throughout the history of the evolution of society
Guatemalan has rejected acts of criminality, especially those
that penetrate children, it becomes more repulsive when it comes to acts of
sexuality committed against them. On the other hand, it shows how the State has
all the power to respond quickly to special situations and where
rarely is it to support its people, but as a show of power
They reformed laws so that the trial would start and conclude as quickly as possible.
in order to restore peace to the Guatemalan people, a study
It shows that 40 years later, the entire part of research and judges
they took the case not with professional opinion but because it was formulated a
a current of popular opinion where they were seen as gods capable of
punish those who had disobeyed what had already been written, in such a way that if they do not
As a consequence, the state could have weakened, manifesting the
people who were not doing their work as such.

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E-graphy
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
Penal code

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