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President Sebastian Piñera, together with various government authorities, presented this Sunday the bill that creates the New National Service for Access to Justice and the Crime Victims Ombudsman.
The legal initiative seeks to implement a new institutional framework for the strengthening people’s right of access to justice, mainly in aid of the victims.
NOW – The President @sebastianpinera, together with the Ministers of the Interior, @RodrigoDelgadoM, of Justice, @HernanLarrainF, and Segpres @cmonckeberg, deputies and senators sign a bill that creates the Office of the Ombudsman for Crime Victims #AccessToJustice pic.twitter.com/Bc8hHp7USC
– Presidency of Chile Press (@presidencia_cl) January 3, 2021
“The Victims Ombudsman will provide legal advice and defense to victims of crimes and will also provide psychological and social assistance, with a special concern for the victims of crimes against life, physical or mental integrity, sexual integrity and freedom “, announced the President.
In this regard, the Minister of Justice, Hernán Larraín, assured that “the presentation of this project allows us to comply with one of the commitments of the Government’s Social Agenda, which is guarantee and strengthen access to justice for all people, without distinction, with better justice focused on citizen legal needs “.
For his part, the Undersecretary of Justice, Sebastian Valenzuela, warned that it seeks to “create a only institutionality, which today is dispersed in different ministries, services and programs, under the umbrella of a national policy on access to justice“.
Valenzuela explained that “this standardizes and professionalizes the care, orientation and legal representation of people, especially the most vulnerable in the labor sphere (layoffs, for example), of family (alimony), civil (rental contracts) and penal (crime victims) “.
The bill announced by the President @sebastianpinera creating the New Service for Access to Justice and the Office of the Defense of Crime Victims establishes a new institutional framework to strengthen the right to #AccessToJustice. pic.twitter.com/AL6V2xJeKh
– Ministry of Justice and Human Rights (@MinjuDDHH) January 3, 2021
Central aspects of the bill
Among the main aspects of the project, is the creation of a new organism that gathers, coordinates and systematizes the public offer in matters of legal defense to citizens.
In this way, a national recruitment of lawyers that can advise and represent people who have seen their human rights violated.
They will also be considered four lines of actionThe first -and in a general way- is to develop the programmatic offer that the Legal Assistance Corporations currently have, in civil, labor, family matters, among others.
In the second instance, the defense of victims of crimes was stipulated, for which the legal advice, defense and representation to all natural persons who have been victims of crime, granting them, in addition, psychological and social support to face and overcome the consequences of the event.
As a third point, on the line of human rights, is considered the legal advice and representation to people whose rights against humanity have been violated or are under threat, both in administrative and judicial headquarters (exercise of constitutional actions).
And as a last point, the specialized line was mentioned that includes all the programmatic offer designed to address the needs and problems that affect a certain sector of the population that is in a vulnerable situation. For example, him My Lawyer Program in children and adolescents, and Comprehensive Defense Senior Adult.
Creation of the Office of the Defender of Crime Victims
Within the institutional framework linked to the criminal process, today there is no single public institution that takes charge of the defense of the victim, thus placing it in a condition of judicial inequality vis-à-vis the interests of the Public Ministry -which are not always coincident with the of the victim- or of the accused himself, who enjoys public defense if required.
For what is sought enhance the role of the victim in the criminal process, with a focus on promoting and defending the rights of crime victims, considers the legal representation and psychological and social care, to natural persons who lack defense in their role as victims in criminal matters.
Senator Marcela Sabat (RN), who is a member of the Public Safety Commission of the Upper House, appreciated the announcement, assuring that if legalized, it will reverse “this return of the Upside down world, where criminals do have a public defender, and the victims of crimes, who suffer them, have no one to defend them. “
“This fight will also continue to be cross-cutting, and we believe that this will help it to be processed quickly in Congress,” he said.
From the same instance, but from the Chamber of Deputies, the socialist Raul Leiva He recalled that “in Parliament there are different bills that seek to create the ombudsman for victims.”
“Given the inequality that exists, there must be a serious political will to restructure the polices, in a process that goes far beyond a single year, “said the deputy.
National Council for Access to Justice
In order to address the challenges of access to justice in the medium and long term, generating public policies that address the problems in a systemic and coordinated way, a National Council composed of authorities, representatives of the world academic and civil society.
In which the development of a National Plan for Access to Justice, with a duration of five years that allows progress in concrete actions, measures and programs, which materialize the strategic objectives proposed by the National Council, and that they be implemented at the regional level.
DC Deputy Warns “Populism” in Anti-Crime Plans
On the other hand, this Monday afternoon the bill that seeks will enter the Public Security Commission of the Chamber of Deputies go after organized crime, before which the president of the instance, Miguel Angel Callisto (DC), remarked that it has given urgency to its processing, in contrast to “a sector in Chilean politics that is always opposed to any project that seeks to address crime issues.”
“I also hope that the Government does not fill the headlines; I have unfortunately seen that is in a rather populist action in terms of confronting drug trafficking and organized crime, “he said.
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