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Abstract: This article, translated from two numbers of the Revista Peruana de Jurisprudencia, reveals a fresh skirmish over an old debating point in the method of the Civil Law: do judges deciding cases under codes in the Romano-European tradition simply apply the written norm, always discoverable within a statute which is by definition both complete and sufficient to any legal controversy, or do judges in a code system also properly contemplate possible departures from the norm when the letter of the law and the spirit of the code in which it appears are clearly inapposite to the resolution of a particular case? The answer in Peru has ever been the first alternative. Peruvian doctrine does not admit any possibility of departure from the code provisions as written. The doctrinal teaching is given added immediacy in Peru by sanctions against the crime of prevaricato, the malfeasance of public officials, including the actions of a judge who fails to apply the law as written. Thus, the doctrinal teaching of strict construction is seriously regarded in Peru and constrains judges at all levels. This article considers the effect of this doctrine and perspective on its new Constitution.
Keywords: Civil Law, Peru, Legal Interpretation
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