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LAW N ° 1674 LAW OF DECEMBER 15, 1995
GONZALO SANCHEZ DE LOZADA CONSTITUTIONAL PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC
For the Honorable National Congress, he has sanctioned the following Law:
EL H. NATIONAL CONGRESS, D E C R E T A:
LAW AGAINST VIOLENCE IN THE FAMILY OR DOMESTIC
CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1. (ALCANCES). This law establishes the policy of the State against violence in the family or domestic, the facts that constitute violence in the family, the sanctions that correspond to the author and the measures of prevention and immediate protection to the victim.
Article 2. (PROTECTED ASSETS). The assets legally protected by this law are the physical, psychological, moral and sexual integrity of each member of the family core.
Article 3. (PREVENTION). The national strategy is the eradication of violence in the family.
The State through its specialized institutions and in coordination with civil associations and private institutions related to the subject:
Promote the incorporation into the processes of teaching curriculum and extra-curricular learning, guidelines and values of respect, solidarity and self-esteem of children, young people and adults of both sexes; promoting access, use and enjoyment of citizens ' rights without discrimination of sex, age, culture and religion.
It will push for a process of modifying the partner-cultural patterns of behavior of men and women, including the design of appropriate formal and non-formal education programs at all levels of the educational process, to counteract prejudice, customs and other practices based on the alleged inferiority or superiority of any of the genders or in stereotypical roles for men and women that legitimize or exacerbate violence.
rights and the protection of women within the family as well as access to health, avoiding discrimination or acts of violence that harm or alter their health.
Awareness of the community through mass campaigns about the care to be taken of the pregnant woman, avoiding any violence that may occur affect or affect the being in gestation.
It will instruct the staff of the health services to provide good treatment and comprehensive care to victims of violence in the family, considering their privacy and privacy, and avoiding the repeat clinical examinations that affect your psychological integrity.
will coordinate joint actions by health services with comprehensive legal services to provide adequate care for victims of family violence.
Will train and raise awareness among the management staff of justice, police and other officials responsible for the implementation of this law, on measures of prevention, punishment and elimination of violence in the family.
It will carry out awareness campaigns through group media interactive and massive communication to the community as a whole, to strengthen the rejection of violence in the family.
It will carry out communication campaigns sectorized by regions, ages and socio-economic situation, through the traditional and alternative means of communication to disseminate the rights of the women and the conviction that family violence is an attack against human rights.
It will incorporate in the language and discourse of the mass media the permanent diffusion of the rejection of family violence and the full exercise of rights, through special programmes, participation in interviews and Regular news streams.
The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Inter-American Convention of the Organization of American States for the Prevention, Sanction and Eradication of Violence against Women.
It will publish the text of this law to specialized audiences, political decision-making levels, union leaders and supporters, and opinion leaders.
Promote the study and investigation of the causes and consequences of violence in the family and adopt measures to promote their eradication.
The National Police will highlight mobile control patrols towards the centers of higher incidence of domestic violence.
Promote the establishment of temporary shelter homes for victims of violence and the creation of institutions for the treatment of aggressors.
It will promote and support the disclosure of the Law against Violence in the Family or Domestic through the National Education System.
Insert as curriculum subject of training in the Military Institutes and National Academy The Law against Violence in the Family or Domestic.
Incentives for the formation of psychological offices for the diagnosis and therapy of victims of violence.
CHAPTER II
VIOLENCE IN THE FAMILY OR HOME Article 4. (VIOLENCE IN THE FAMILY). It is understood by violence in the family or domestic the aggression
physical, psychological or sexual, committed by:
The spouse or survivor;
Ancestors, descendants, siblings, civil relatives, or related online and collateral;
Guardians, curators, or custodians. Article 5. (DOMESTIC VIOLENCE). They are considered acts of domestic violence, assaults committed
between ex-spouses, ex-cohabitants or persons who had created legally recognized children in common or not, even if they had not lived.
Article 6. (FORMS OF VIOLENCE). It is considered:
Physical violence, conduct that causes internal or external injury or any other mistreatment that affects the physical integrity of persons;
psychological violence, behaviors that disturb emotionally to the victim, harming their mental and emotional development; and
sexual violence, behaviors, threats, or intimidation that affect the sexual integrity or sexual self-determination of the victim.
consider acts of violence in the family when parents, guardians or managers of the family custody endanger the physical or psychological integrity of minors, abuse of corrective or disciplinary means or the imposition of excessive and inappropriate work for the child's age or physical condition.
acts of violence in the family carried out against the disabled. CHAPTER III
SANCTIONS AND ALTERNATIVE MEASURES Article 7. (SANTIONS). The acts of violence in the family or domestic, understood in this law, and
that do not constitute crimes that are classified in the Penal Code, shall be punishable by penalties of fine or arrest.
Article 8. (FINE). The penalty of fine in favor of the State, will be set by the judge up to a maximum of 20% of the national minimum wage and up to ten times more of the sum, according to the gravity of the facts and the economic capacity of the author.
fine will be cancelled within three days.
The default will result in the conversion of the fine to arrest, which may not exceed the maximum duration set by the following article.
Article 9. (ARREST). The arrest penalty consists of the deprivation of liberty for a period to be set by the judge and may not exceed four days, and may be deferred to the end of the week.
The arrest shall be made in precincts police.
Article 10. (AGGRAVATING). The will be aggravated up to twice the maximum expected, in the following cases:
When the victim is disabled, over sixty years of age or is pregnant.
When several actions have been taken
when the penalty is enforced, the person responsible commits another act or acts of violence in the family. Article 11. (ALTERNATIVE MEASURES TO THE EXECUTION OF THE SANCTION). The judge may suspend the
execution of the sanction, disposing according to the nature of the fact and the personality of the author, as an alternative measure psychological therapy or benefit
These measures will only be effective if I measure the consent of the person responsible. If you do not give your consent, the penalty imposed will be enforced.
Accredited for the enforcement of the measure, the judge will declare the penalty imposed. Otherwise, the penalty whose compliance was suspended will be executed.
Article 12. (PSYCHOLOGICAL THERAPY). The psychological therapy will be carried out in private offices of qualified professionals, with the responsibility of the author. People with scarce resources will be referred to the Secretariat for Ethnic, Gender and Generational Affairs, ONAMFA or any accredited and non-profit social service.
The specialist will determine the length of time and the modality of psychological therapy and will inform the judge about these circumstances.
Article 13. community work will consist of the provision of work in favour of the community or of the State, which will be carried out outside the usual working hours and according to the profession, trade or occupation of the author.
The duration of the work may not exceed the time equivalent to four days.
The work shall be supervised by the person or authority designated by the judge, who shall report on compliance.
CHAPTER IV COMPETENCE
Article 14. (COMPETITION). The knowledge of the facts of domestic or domestic violence, understood in this law, shall be of competence of the judges of the family instruction.
In the places where there are no judges of family instruction Judges of instruction will be competent.
Article 15. (CRIMINAL ACTS). The acts of violence which constitute offences established in the Criminal Code are the exclusive competence of criminal judges.
Article 16. (COMMUNITY AUTHORITIES). In indigenous and peasant communities, it will be the community and natural authorities to resolve disputes of violence in the family, in accordance with their customs and practices, provided that they do not oppose The Political Constitution of the State and the spirit of this law.
CHAPTER V
PRECAUTIONARY AND PROVISIONAL MEASURES Article 17. (PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES). The court of officio, at the request of a party or of the Public Ministry, may
arrange for the precautionary measures that correspond, designed to ensure the safety and physical or psychological integrity of the victim. You may also order the assistance of the public force for compliance.
At any time in the proceedings, the judge, on its own initiative or at the request of a party, may, by resolution, extend, modify, replace or otherwise leave the precautionary.
Article 18. (CLASSES). They are precautionary measures:
To temporarily prohibit or restrict the presence of the accused in the marital home.
Order the victim's return to the home from which she would have been removed with violence.
Authorizing the victim of the removal of the common household and to arrange for the immediate delivery of their personal effects.
Dispose the inventory of the movable and immovable property of property of the ganancial community.
Prohibit or limit the concurrency from the reported victim to the victim's place of work. Article 19. (MEASURES TEMPORALITY). The precautionary measures listed in the previous article
are essentially temporary in character and cannot exceed the duration of the process.
Article 20. (PROVISIONAL MEASURES) The judge who is aware of the case may issue the provisional measures of family assistance and child tenure, which correspond. These measures will only take effect until the completion of the process.
CHAPTER VI
PROCEDURE Article 21. (COMPLAINT). The complaint may be filed orally or in writing, with the assistance of
sponsoring attorney or without it, before the competent judge, the Public Ministry or the National Police.
Article 22. (LEGITIMIZATION TO DENOUNCE). They are entitled to apply for protection in favor of the victim, denouncing acts of physical or psychological violence, their consanguine relatives, related or civil, or anyone who knows these facts.
The acts of sexual violence can only be reported by the victim, unless he is under the age of eighteen or more incapable, in which case they are entitled to report the subjects mentioned in the previous paragraph.
Article 23. (LEGITIMIZATION TO INTERVENE IN THE PROCESS). In cases of physical violence or when the victim of sexual or psychological violence is a child under eighteen years of age or older, they are entitled
to exercise the action the victim and the Public Ministry.
In other cases of sexual violence only the victim is entitled to exercise the action.
Article 24. health workers of public or private establishments that receive or pay attention to victims of violence are obliged to report these facts for their respective processing.
Article 25. (COMPLAINT TO THE POLICE). When the complaint is filed with the Police, it will forward the background to the competent judge, within 24 hours of receiving the complaint, at no cost.
Article 26. (FAMILY PROTECTION BRIGADES). The Family Protection Brigades will be in charge of practicing the measures aimed at the individualization of the authors and participants, gathering or securing the elements of the test and providing the assistance
Where there is no Family Protection Brigades, the existing law enforcement authorities will fulfill these functions.
Article 27. (FLAGRANCY). case of flagrant the author may be apprehended even without a command by any person, with the sole object of being immediately brought before the competent authority.
Article 28. (COMPLAINT TO THE PUBLIC MINISTRY). When the complaint is filed with the Public Prosecutor's Office, the prosecutor of the family or tax agent shall immediately summon the defendant and the victim to a conciliation hearing, which shall be held within the 24 hours of receipt of the complaint.
In the event that the parties are not present or the conciliation does not occur, the prosecutor will forward the cause to the competent judge.
In time to refer the case, the prosecutor may ask the judge to precautionary measures that correspond. Article 29. (ADMISSION OF THE COMPLAINT). Received the complaint, the judge to admit it, will indicate day and hour for
the hearing that will take place within a period of not more than 48 hours, will resolve on the origin of the precautionary measures and will have the subpoena of the defendant and who is entitled to exercise the action.
Article 30. (CITATION). The summons to the accused may be made, any day or hour and in the place where there may be.
The summons shall contain the reason for the complaint and the precautionary measures provided by the judge for its compliance. immediate.
Article 31. (FAILURE TO APPEAR). When the defendant is not justified without justification, having been legally summoned, the judge will arrange for his appearance with the help of the public force.
Article 32. if the person who is entitled to take the action does not appear, the action shall be withdrawn unless legal impediment is established, in which case a new day and time of the hearing shall be indicated within the same time limit laid down in the Article 29 of this Law.
Article 33. (HEARING). On the day of the hearing, the judge will arrange the reading of the complaint, hear the parties, receive the evidence that they offer, and propose the basis for a possible conciliation.
The report may be assisted by a
If one of the parties was assisted in hearing by a sponsor attorney, for equity, the Judge shall appoint one defender for the other.
Article 34. (TESTING).
The test will be appreciated by the judge, exposing the reasoning in which it is based.
The test will be appreciated by the judge, stating the reasons why bases its legal assessment.
Article 35. (WITNESSES). May also be witnesses to the relatives or dependents of the complainant or the defendant, as long as their declaration is voluntary.
Article 36. (RESOLUTION). The judge in the same hearing will decide by expressing the reasons on which it is founded.
The resolution, as appropriate, may:
Homologate the agreements to which the parties have arrived at the reconciliation;
Declare the complaint proven when the defendant's guilt has been proven.
Declare the complaint. If the complaint is proven, the judge will impose the appropriate sanction and order the payment of all
the expenses incurred to the victim as a result of the fact and the processing of the process. In the same resolution, the judge may provide that the sanction be suspended, in accordance with Articles 11, 12 and 13 of this Law.
Article 37. (MEDICAL CERTIFICATES). medical certificate issued by a professional working in public health institutions shall be admitted as documentary proof.
Article 38. According to the circumstances of the case, the judge may order the psychological expertise of the accused and the family members involved in the violence.
The expert report must be presented to the judge within a period not longer than seven working days. After this deadline, with or without the expert report, the judge will decide.
Article 39. (APPEAL). The parties may file an appeal in a verbal form at the same hearing or written within 24 hours, before the same judge who gave the judgment.
The appeal shall be lodged with the other party. so that the resource can be answered within the same period. Then, without further processing, within the next 24 hours the proceedings must be submitted to the second-instance judge, under the responsibility of the actuary.
The appeal will be granted in effect to the judge of the family party of or to the party judge in the provinces.
Article 40. APPEAL RESOLUTION). Received the proceedings, the second-instance judge will rule within the following three days, without further appeal.
Article 41. (RESERVATION OF THE PROCEDURE). The procedure for acts of violence in the family or domestic is absolutely reserved. The file may only be displayed or given testimony or certificate of the pieces in the insert at the request of a legitimate party and with a judicial mandate.
CHAPTER VII
FINAL PROVISIONS Article 42. (INCIDENT). If during the processing of a process of divorce, separation or unilateral break-up of
free union acts of domestic or domestic violence, the judge of the cause, will know and resolve in the incidental way these complaints in accordance with the procedure laid down in this law.
Article 43. (OFFENCES OF PUBLIC ORDER AT THE REQUEST OF A PARTY). Amend Art. 7 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, excluding crimes of rape, rape of persons over the age of puberty, dishonest abuse, outrage and corruption of the elderly; those that will be considered crimes of public action at the request of a party.
In the cases of this article, there will be no cause to be formed, but by accusation or denunciation of the victim, his guardian or his representatives legal. However, the instance of a party shall not be required where the offence is committed against a minor who does not have a parent, guardian or legal representative, or who is committed by a parent, guardian, legal representative or guardian.
In all cases, the name of the victim will be in strict reserve.
The action will be promoted by instance, the Public Ministry will continue the process of trade.
Article 44. (REPEAL). Article 276 of the Criminal Code is repealed.
Article 45. (SUPPLEMENTARY RULES). They are applicable, as soon as they are not contrary to the provisions of this law, the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Remitase to the Executive Branch for constitutional purposes.
Session of the H. National Congress. La Paz, December 13, 1995,
Fdo. Juan Carlos Durán Saucedo, Guillermo Bedregal G., Guillermo Richter A., Horacio Torrezguzmán, Miguel Antoraz Chalup, Luis Sanabria Taboada,
Therefore, it is enacted so that it has and will comply with the Law of the Republic.
Government Palace of the city of La Paz, at the fifteen days of the month of December of a thousand nine hundred and ninety-five years.
FDO. GONZALO ZANCHEZ DE LOZADA, Carlos Sánchez Berzain, José G. Justiniano Sandoval, Reynaldo Peters Arzabe, MINISTER OF LABOR AND ALTERNATE FOR JUSTICE.
