Admissibility
Art. 456. The remedy of cassation may be filed for the following reasons:
1) Non-compliance with or wrongful application of the substantive law.
2) Non-compliance with the norms established in this Code regarding inadmissibility, extinction or
nullity, provided that, with the exception of cases of absolute nullity, the appellant has filed a
claim to remedy the defect opportunely if this was possible, or declared that he will file an
appeal in cassation.
Decisions subject to appeal
Art. 457. In addition to the cases especially provided for by law and subject to the limitations
established in the following articles, this remedy may be filed against final judgments and court
orders that terminate the action or the sentence, or that make it impossible to continue the
proceedings, or that deny the extinction, substitution, or suspension of the sentence.
Cassation for violation of the law
Art. 470. If the contested decision did not observe or wrongfully applied the substantive law, the
Court shall annul it and decide the case according to the law and the legal doctrine declared
applicable.
Annulment
Art. 471. If the procedural norms were breached, the chamber shall annul the proceedings and
refer the case to the appropriate court for trial.
251. Meanwhile, the Code of Criminal Procedure of the province of Mendoza also
establishes the appeal in cassation: 323
Admissibility
Art. 474. Grounds.
The appeal in cassation may be filed for the following reasons:
1) Non-compliance with or wrongful application of the substantive law.
2) Non-compliance with the norms established in this Code regarding inadmissibility, extinction or
nullity, provided that, with the exception of cases of absolute nullity, the appellant has filed a
claim to remedy the defect opportunely, if this was possible, or declared that he will file an
appeal in cassation.
Art. 475. Decisions subject to appeal
In addition to the cases especially provided for by law and subject to the limitations established in
the following articles, this remedy may be filed against final judgments and court orders that
terminate the action or the sentence, or that make it impossible to continue the proceedings, or
that deny the extinction, substitution, or suspension of the sentence.
252.
The foregoing reveals that the appeal in cassation is regulated in similar terms in
the legislation applicable to the federal capital and that applicable in the province of
Mendoza. Consequently, the analysis made in this chapter will take this situation into
account.
253. According to the legislation in force at the time of the facts, a conviction could be
contested by an appeal in cassation in two situations: (1) erroneous application of the
substantive law to the facts of the case, and (2) violation of any of the procedural rules. In
the first situation, “the facts considered proved during the oral hearing are not discussed,
[…] but rather, the substantive legal rule that the court applied to decide the case is
questioned.” 324 In the second situation, “the facts that the trial court found to have been
proved are not discussed either, but rather […] the way in which the court reached [that
323
Cf. Code of Criminal Procedure of the province of Mendoza (file of annexes to the submission of the case,
tome VIII, folio 4259).
324
1295).
Cf. Expert opinion of Alberto Bovina provided by affidavit on August 24, 2012 (merits file, tome II, folio
82