35 through earlier reforms, which strengthened the system of guarantees at trial and rationalized the use of pretrial detention. In addition, criminal justice policies of this kind have had a major impact on prison systems. 81. For example, the IACHR notes that since 2004, when the adversarial system was introduced into Colombian criminal law, a series of legislative amendments have been adopted. Regardless of their compatibility or incompatibility with the American Convention, they have had, to a greater or lesser extent, a real impact on increased prisoner numbers. 82. The most relevant of such amendments are: (a) Law 890 of 2004, 117 amending the Criminal Code and creating new offenses, increasing the minimum and 118 maximum penalties for all crimes, and amending the rules for granting conditional suspensions of sentences – it is now only admissible once two-thirds of the sentence have been served, compared to three-fifths previously, and is conditional on the 119 payment of any fines imposed and victim redress ordered; (b) Law 1142 of 2007, allowing pretrial detention for 12 new offenses, increasing the penalties for others, and imposing restrictions on the use of alternative measures to pretrial detention in 120 detention facilities; (c) Law 1453 of 2011, the “Citizen Security Law,” increasing the penalties for a number of offenses, creating new crimes, facilitating the imposition of 121 preventive measures, expanding the duration of pretrial detention, and imposing 117 For example, crimes against computer security, to criminalize espionage, sabotage, and the usurpation of intellectual property; crimes of seizing and trafficking in fossil fuels; crimes against archeological heritage; and specific crimes and other offenses against evidence, intended to protect witnesses and to prevent the destruction of evidence and other elements involved in crimes of that kind. 118 by one half. All custodial sentences had their minimum durations increased by a third and their maximums 119 In Judgment C-823 of August 10, 2005, the Constitutional Court ruled this provision enforceable on a conditional basis, “in the understanding that should the convict’s current insolvency be established to the satisfaction of the judge overseeing the sentence, and subject to challenges by the victim and the Public Prosecution Ministry, the failure to pay redress to the victim shall not prevent the exceptional granting of conditional liberty.” In addition, these provisions restricting conditional releases, and others contained in the laws enacted during this period and identified above, represent a step backwards from the letter and spirit of Law 415 of 1997, which was enacted with the aim of reducing prison overcrowding. 120 The Justice Studies Center of the Americas (CEJA) said that as a direct result of the entry into force of Law 1142, “between the second and third quarters of 2007, the number of pretrial detainees rose from 2,255 to 7,786, even though the number of cases opened fell to less than a half.” It further noted that “with the entry into force of the law, the percentage of arrests rose ten-fold (from 4.74% to 38.65%) in the cases opened,” although these figures later tended to stabilize. CEJA, Prisión Preventiva y Reforma Procesal en América Latina. Evaluación y Perspectivas, Santiago, Chile, 2008, pp. 248-250. Similarly, the Excellence in Justice Corporation has stated that: “one of the reasons for the growth in the level of overcrowding during the past year was the implementation of Law 1142 of 2007. This statute, inter alia, disallows benefits or alternatives to incarceration for those convicted of willful or premeditated crimes within the previous five years and also increases the penalties applicable to some of the offenses set down in the Criminal Code”. http://www.cej.org.co/index.php/todos-los-justiciometros/824-evolucion-de-la-situacionExtract from: carcelaria-en-colombia. 121 According to a report submitted to the IACHR by the Public Interest Law Group of the University of the Andes Law School, “between the entry into force of this law in June 2011 and April 2012, there was an increase of 12.9% in offenses committed by the inmate population, from 139,560 to 157,522. It must be borne Continues…