Now, what the general population considers criminal authority may be a) the Public Ministry or b) the Criminal Judge. While there could be others, these are the ones we will address. When an agent of the Public Ministry issues a summons, it can have various purposes, such as collecting a statement as a witness, gathering our statement if we are under investigation, or requesting that we provide some element, document, or information. In any case, failure to attend a summons issued by an agent of the Public Ministry may legally result in a fine, arrest for up to 36 hours, or, in cases of extreme relevance, a request from the Public Ministry agent to the Criminal Judge for the issuance of a presentation or apprehension order against the summoned individual.
In the second case, regarding a summons from a Criminal Judge for a hearing, you should know that while the consequences are similar, it is much more likely that you will regret not attending once called. However, as I mentioned, failure to appear for a Criminal Judge’s summons may lead to the issuance of a presentation order or an apprehension order, provided that the Judge justifies that you were legally summoned and, despite being aware of the summons, voluntarily and omissively chose not to attend. In this case, the Public Ministry agent is generally empowered to request the issuance of a presentation order against you, and subsequently, an apprehension order, without the need to exhaust the first.
In most cases, every problem has a solution, so as much as possible, upon receiving a judicial summons of a criminal nature, the recommendation is not to panic unnecessarily, contact a trusted or recommended lawyer, and attend, unless your defense strategy involves accepting some risk based on probability, which is ultimately the decision and responsibility of your lawyer.
If you have received a summons from any judicial authority in a criminal matter, do not hesitate to contact me, Lic. Jorge Fernández, to find a solution to your problem.
