Peru’s Lima Bar Association has filed a criminal complaint against former Attorney General Liz Patricia Benavides Vargas, accusing her of practicing law illegally while under a professional suspension, the association announced.
The association’s Ethics Council had suspended Benavides from January 26 to July 28, 2026, after finding she had intervened in favor of her sister, Enma Benavides. Despite that ban, the association said she continued attending cases and practicing throughout the suspension period.
Alfonso Lopez Abarca Cuadros, the association’s director of guild defense, said the criminal complaint was submitted through Case File No. 201-2026. The matter has been assigned to the Illicit Enrichment and Constitutional Complaints Area of the Attorney General’s Office, which said it would issue a corresponding decision as soon as possible.
Background to the suspension
The Ethics Council imposed the suspension after concluding that Benavides had misled the National Justice Board by assuring it she would not interfere in proceedings involving her sister, Judge Emma Benavides Vargas. According to the council’s resolution, she later ordered the removal of the prosecutor handling that case after taking office as attorney general, which the council ruled a breach of professional ethics.
The case is currently awaiting a final decision from the assigned prosecutorial office.
