Bill 127.

Summary.

The bill’s heading refers to Law 51 of December 27, 2005 (LEY 51 DE 27 DE DICIEMBRE DE 2005) and the Organic Law of the Social Security Fund (LEY ORGANICA DE LA CAJA DE SEGURO SOCIAL). Its operative provisions address the Criminal Code (Código Penal) and the Criminal Procedure Code (Código Procesal Penal). Article 1 proposes new wording for item 1 of article 214 of the Criminal Code, concerning theft cases punishable by five to ten years’ imprisonment. It covers theft committed in offices, schools, health centers, public or private hospitals, archives, or public establishments involving property kept there. It also covers theft committed elsewhere involving property intended for public use, and theft committed in a church or religious temple. For the first group of cases, the provision connects the place where the offense is committed with the property kept there.

Article 2 adds item 7 to article 219 of the Criminal Code. That article provides for an increase of up to one half in the penalty for robbery in its listed circumstances. The new item includes robbery committed in a school, health center, or public or private hospital. The reproduced provision also lists the use of weapons; commission by a masked person or by two or more people; interference with personal liberty or the causing of injury; robbery against a domestic or foreign tourist; and robbery against drivers or users of public passenger transport while the service is being provided. The bill thus adds the specified facilities as another circumstance triggering the penalty increase.

Article 3 adds a paragraph to article 220 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which concerns agreements between the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Ministerio Público) and the accused. The reproduced provision allows such agreements from the hearing at which charges are formally brought until before the accusation is submitted to the Guarantee Judge (Juez de Garantías). The proposed paragraph bars defendants accused of property offenses in the form of theft or robbery from entering into the agreements provided for in that article when the offense was committed in a school, health center, or public or private hospital. The restriction applies to those offenses and locations within the criminal procedure.

Article 4 identifies articles 214 and 219 of the Criminal Code and article 220 of the Criminal Procedure Code as the provisions amended. Article 5 provides that the proposed law would take effect on the day following its promulgation. In terms of the institutions and sectors concerned, the bill addresses the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Guarantee Judge, along with schools, health centers, public and private hospitals, offices, archives, public establishments, churches and religious temples, and people involved in the theft and robbery cases described.