摘要：This paper was presented at the Seminar on Criminal Procedural Law at
the Angel Francisco Brice Institute of Juridical Studies of the Zulia State
Bar Association, Maracaibo, on June 30, 2006. It consists in a critical
commentary on the implications of the principle known as iura novit
curia [which is usually translated as: .the judge knows the Law.],
conceived in the Venezuelan criminal juridical procedural context. Our
objective is to show that knowledge of the applicable Law must go
beyond mere knowledge of regulatory provisions and juridical rules, both
understood as the dominion of the Judge over something that is external
to the human being. If the Judge is not conscious of the essential
.characteristics. of the human being, of what his dignity means, he will
never be able to .understand. the person he is judging, nor the victim of
the crime. Hence, what is being dealt with is not a dogmatic exposition of
the principle. For those who wish to delve deeper into the essence of
iura novit curia, I recommend the work: iura novit curia and judicial
application of the Law. by Francisco Javier Ezquiaga Ganuzas, Edit.
Lex Nova, Valladolid, 2000, on the teachings of which my reflections for
this dissertation are based (Translated by Lic. Ramos de M¨¦ndez.).
