Key Benefits:
ACT
(July 16)
Official Journal No. 42,836, July 22, 1996
By which article 42 of the Political Constitution is developed and rules are dictated to prevent, remedy and punish domestic violence.
COLOMBIA CONGRESS
DECRETA:
GENERAL OBJECT, DEFINITION, AND PRINCIPLES
ARTICLE 1o. This Law aims to develop article 42, paragraph 5 of the Political Charter, by means of a comprehensive treatment of the different modalities of violence in the family, in order to assure this their harmony and unity.
ARTICLE 2o. The family is constituted by natural or legal links, by the free decision of a man and a woman of marriage or by the will responsible to settle it.
For the purposes of this Law, they integrate the family:
a) The spouses or permanent partners;
b) The parent and the parent, although they do not live in the same household;
c) The ancestors or descendants of the former and the adopted children;
d) All other persons permanently integrated into the domestic unit.
ARTICLE 3o. For the interpretation and application of this Law, the following principles shall be taken into account:
a) Primata of fundamental rights and recognition of the family as the basic institution of society;
b) All forms of violence in the family are considered destructive of their harmony and unity, and therefore will be prevented, corrected and sanctioned by the public authorities;
c) The timely and effective special protection of persons who in the context of a family are or may become victims, in any form, of physical or psychological harm, threat, abuse, tort, offence, torture or outrage, due to the behaviour of another member of the family unit;
d) Equal rights and opportunities for men and women;
e) They are fundamental rights of children: life, physical integrity, health, social security, balanced eating, their name and nationality, having a family and not being separated from it, care and love, education, culture, recreation and free expression of their opinions;
f) Children's rights prevail over those of others;
g) The preservation of unity and harmony among family members, using legal reconciliatory means when appropriate;
(h) The effectiveness, speed, sum and orality in the application of the procedures referred to in this Law;
i) Respect for privacy and the good name in the processing and resolution of intra-family conflicts.
PROTECTION MEASURES
ARTICLE 4o. 16 of Law 1257 of 2008. The new text is as follows: > Any person who within his/her family context is a victim of physical, psychological, or damage to his/her sexual integrity, threat, grievance, offense or any other form of aggression by another member of the group Without prejudice to the criminal complaints to which the family member of the place where the facts occur and in the absence of the Municipal Civil Judge or Municipal Promiscuo, a measure of immediate protection may be requested, without prejudice to the criminal complaints end to violence, abuse or aggression or prevent it from taking place when it is imminent.
Where at the address of the person who has been assaulted there is more than one court competent to know of this action, the request shall be immediately submitted to the distribution.
PARAGRAFO. In cases of intra-family violence in indigenous communities, the competent to know about these cases is the respective indigenous authority, in development of the special jurisdiction provided by the National Constitution in article 246.
ARTICLE 5o. PROTECTIVE MEASURES IN CASES OF INTRA-FAMILY VIOLENCE. 17 of Law 1257 of 2008. The new text is as follows: > If the competent authority determines that the applicant or a member of a family group has been the victim of violence, it shall issue a definitive protective measure, in which it shall order the the offender shall refrain from carrying out the conduct which is the subject of the complaint, or any other similar conduct against the person offended or another member of the family group. The official may, in addition, as appropriate, impose the following measures, without prejudice to those laid down in Article 18 of this Law:
(a) To order the aggressor to dislodge the room house that he shares with the victim, when his or her presence constitutes a threat to the life, physical integrity or health of any member of the family;
(b) To order the aggressor to refrain from entering any place where the victim is located, where, in the opinion of the official, such limitation is necessary to prevent the person from disturbing, intimidating, threatening or otherwise interfering with the with the victim or with the minors, whose provisional custody has been awarded to him;
(c) Prohibit the aggressor from hiding or moving children, girls and disabled persons from residence to the family group, without prejudice to the criminal actions to which they may take place;
d) Obligation to resort to a reeducational and therapeutic treatment in a public or private institution offering such services, at the expense of the aggressor.
(e) If necessary, the aggressor shall be ordered to pay the costs of guidance and legal, medical, psychological and psychological advice required by the victim;
(f) When violence or abuse is considered serious and its repetition is subject to the competent authority, it shall order a special temporary protection of the victim by the police authorities, both at his home and in his place of work if he is have;
g) Order the police authority, upon request of the victim, to accompany the victim for re-entry to the place of residence when she has been obliged to leave to protect her safety;
(h) provisionally decide on the status of visits, custody and custody of children and daughters if any, without prejudice to the civil jurisdiction of other authorities, who may ratify or amend this measure;
i) Suspend the holding, carrying, and use of weapons, in the event that they are indispensable for the exercise of their profession or profession, the suspension shall be motivated;
(j) provisionally decide who will be in charge of food pensions, without prejudice to competition in civil matters from other authorities who will be able to ratify or amend this measure;
k) provisionally decide on the use and enjoyment of family housing, without prejudice to competition in civil matters from other authorities who may ratify or amend this measure;
l) To prohibit, the aggressor the realization of any act of alienation or lien of property of his property subject to registration, if it has existing conjugal or patrimonial society. For this purpose, it shall officiate the competent authorities. This measure shall be enacted by the Judicial Authority;
m) To order the immediate return of the objects of personal use, identity documents and any other document or object of property or custody of the victim;
n) Any other measure necessary for the fulfilment of the objectives of this law.
PARAGRAFO 1o. In the divorce or separation of bodies processes due to maltreatment, the judge may decree any of the protection measures enshrined in this article.
PARAGRAFO 2o. These same measures may be provisionally and immediately issued by the judicial authority that knows of the crimes that originate in acts of intra-family violence.
PARAGRAFO 3o. The competent authority shall forward all cases of domestic violence to the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Nation for the purposes of the investigation of the crime of domestic violence and possible crimes associated.
ARTICLE 6o. Where the fact that is the subject of the complaint constitutes a crime or a violation, the knowledge officer shall forward the proceedings to the competent authority, without prejudice to the protective measures enshrined in this law.
ARTICLE 7o. Failure to comply with protection measures will result in the following penalties:
(a) For the first time, fine between two (2) and ten (10) monthly minimum legal wages, convertible into arrest, which must be entered within five (5) days of their imposition. Conversion into arrest shall be taken from plane by car which shall have only replenishment resources, at three (3) days for each minimum wage;
(b) If the breach of the protection measures is repeated within two (2) years, the penalty shall be for the arrest of thirty (30) and forty-five (45) days.
In the event of non-compliance with protective measures imposed by acts of violence or abuse that constitute a crime or a violation, the aggressor will be revoked the benefits of release and the criminal surrogates that will be enjoying.
ARTICLE 8. Any behavior of retaliation, revenge or evasion of the food duties by the aggressor shall be understood as a breach of the protective measures imposed on it.
PROCEDURE
ARTICLE 9o. Taking information about facts of intra-family violence to the competent authorities is the responsibility of the community, of the neighbors, and must be carried out immediately.
The request for a protective measure may be personally filed by the victim, by any other person acting on his behalf, or by the family advocate when the victim is unable to do so by himself.
The request for a protection measure may be made in writing, orally or by any appropriate means to inform the competent official of the facts of intra-family violence, and be presented at the latest within the of the thirty (30) days following its occurrence.
ARTICLE 10. The protection measure request must clearly express the following data:
a) Name of the person who presents it and its identification, if possible;
b) Name of person or persons who are victims of intra-family violence;
c) The name and address of the aggressor;
d) Relate to the reported facts, and
e) Request for the evidence you deem necessary.
ARTICLE 11. The Commissioner or the Judge, as the case may be, will immediately receive and endorse the request, and if it is founded on at least slight indications, it may dictate within four (4) working hours. (i) the following measures of protection in an interim manner aimed at preventing the continuation of any act of violence, aggression, abuse, threat or offence against the victim, in order to make the aggressor liable to the sanctions provided for in this law; the failure to comply with the protection measures.
Against the interim protection measure there will be no recourse.
You may also request expert, technical or scientific evidence from official experts, who will give their opinion in accordance with the procedures established by the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences.
ARTICLE 12. Radicated the request, the Commissioner or the Judge, as the case may be, will quote the defendant to appear for a hearing that will take place between the five (5) and ten (10) days following the filing of the the request. This hearing must be attended by the victim.
The notice of summons to the hearing will be made personally or by notice fixed at the entrance of the aggressor's residence.
Paragraph. If the victims are disabled persons in a situation of defensiveness, the person would have to be notified. The Person or his delegate shall be present at the hearings. Their absence does not prevent the completion of the same, but it is a serious disciplinary matter.
ARTICLE 13. The aggressor will be able to present disclaimers before the hearing, and propose formulas of agreement with the victim, and also request evidence, which will be practiced during the hearing.
ARTICLE 14. Before the hearing and during the hearing, the Commission or the Judge, as the case may be, shall seek, by all legal means at its disposal, formulas for the solution to the intra-family conflict between the the aggressor and the victim, in order to guarantee the unity and harmony of the family, and especially that the aggressor will amend his behavior. In all cases, it will facilitate the rapprochement and direct dialogue between the parties for the achievement of an agreement on peace and coexistence with the family. At the same hearing, he shall determine and practice the evidence requested by the parties and which he or she considers to be conducive.
ARTICLE 15. If the aggressor does not appear to the hearing, it is understood that he accepts the charges against him.
However, the parties may be excused from the inattendance only once before the hearing or within the hearing, as long as it mediates just cause. The official will assess the excuse and, if appropriate, set a date for the new hearing to be held within five (5) days.
ARTICLE 16. The resolution or statement will be dictated at the end of the hearing and will be notified to the parties in the strates. The effects of the notification shall be deemed to have taken place. If any of the parties are absent, the decision shall be communicated to you by notice, telegram or any other suitable means.
The action will be recorded in the minutes, from which a copy will be given to each of the parties.
Paragraph. At all stages of the process, the Commissioner will be assisted by the institution's interdisciplinary team.
ARTICLE 17. The official who issued the protection order will maintain the competence for enforcement and compliance with the protective measures.
The penalties for non-compliance with the protection measures shall be imposed in a hearing which shall be held within ten (10) days of their application, after the relevant evidence has been carried out and the discharge of the party's defendant.
However, when in the judgment of the Commissioner it is necessary to order the arrest, after practicing the tests and ears the disclaimers, will ask the Family Judge or Family Promiscuo, or in his defect, the Municipal Civil or the Promiscuo to issue the order, which will decide within the next 48 hours.
The Providence that imposes the penalties for non-compliance with the protection order, provisional or final, will be motivated and personally notified in the hearing or by notice.
ARTICLE 18. At any time, the interested parties, the Public Ministry, the Family Defender, fully demonstrating that the circumstances that gave rise to the protection measures have been overcome. They may ask the official who issued the order to terminate the effects of the statements made and the termination of the ordered measures.
Against the final decision on a protective measure taken by the Family Commissioners or the Municipal Civil Judges or Promiscuous Municipal, will proceed in the effect of the return, the Appeal of Appeal to the Judge of the Family or Promiscuo Family.
The procedural rules contained in Decree number 2591 of 1991 shall be applicable to the procedure provided for in this law, as soon as its nature permits.
ARTICLE 19. The procedures enshrined in this law do not replace or modify the actions provided for in the Constitution and in the law for the guarantee of fundamental rights, nor for the solution of intra-family legal disputes.
ASSISTING VICTIMS OF MISTREATMENT
ARTICLE 20. The Police authorities will provide the victim of intra-family abuse with all necessary assistance to prevent the repetition of these events, to remedy the physical and psychological consequences that have occurred. (a) occasioned and avoid retaliation for such acts. In particular, they will take the following steps:
a) Immediately drive the victim to the nearest care facility, even if the injuries are not visible;
(b) To accompany the victim to a safe place or to his or her home for the removal of personal belongings, if deemed necessary for the safety of that person;
c) Murder the victim in the preservation of evidence of acts of violence and;
d) Provide relevant information on the rights of the victim and on the government and private services available to victims of intra-family abuse.
PARAGRAFO. The police authorities will put on record what has been done in a document, from which a copy will be given to the person who claims to be the victim of the abuse. Failure to comply with this duty will be a causal of sanctionable misconduct with removal.
ARTICLE 21. In the interim protection order and in the final order, it will be possible to request the households of passage, shelters, ancianates, or similar institutions that exist in the municipality, to receive in them victim, depending on the conditions that the respective establishment provides.
OF CRIMES AGAINST HARMONY AND THE UNITY OF THE FAMILY
ARTICLE 22. INTRA-FAMILY VIOLENCE. The person who maltreats, physically or sexually, any member of his or her household, will be in prison for one (1) to two (2) years.
ARTICLE 23. ABUSE OF PERSONAL INJURY. He who, through physical or psychiatric violence, cruel or intimidating treatment or degrading, causes damage to the body or psychological health to a member of his family group, will incur the penalty of the planned freedom for the respective crime, increased from one third to half.
PARAGRAFO. For the purposes of this article, to compel or induce the consumption of psychotropic substances to another person or to consume them in the presence of minors, it is considered to be degrading treatment.
ARTICLE 24. ABUSE BY RESTRICTION ON PHYSICAL FREEDOM. He who by force and without reasonable cause restricts the freedom of locomotion to another older person belonging to his family group, will incur arrest of one (1) to six (6) months and in fine of one (1) to sixteen (16) minimum monthly wages, provided that this fact does not constitute a crime punishable by greater punishment.
ARTICLE 25. SEXUAL VIOLENCE BETWEEN SPOUSES.
ARTICLE 26. The benefit of release or probation shall not be granted, where any of the offences referred to in this law are in violation of an order of protection.
In the judgment declaring a person responsible in fact punishable against a member of his family, he will be required to carry out re-education or retraining activities.
ARTICLE 27. The penalties for the offences provided for in Articles 276, 277, 279, 311 and 312 of the Penal Code will be increased from one third to half when the person responsible is a member of the family of the victim.
FAMILY PROTECTION POLICY
ARTICLE 28. The Colombian Institute of Welfare will design policies, plans and programs to prevent and eradicate domestic violence.
Likewise, the departmental and municipal authorities will be able to form Family Protection Councils to advance studies and activities of prevention, education, assistance and treatment of domestic violence problems within his jurisdiction.
ARTICLE 29. The Colombian Family Welfare Institute will have to integrate a data bank on domestic violence, for which all the authorities responsible for receiving the complaints and dealing with them, update the information necessary to advance research that contributes to the prevention and eradication of domestic violence.
ARTICLE 30. Municipalities that have not complied with the provisions of Article 295 of the Minor Code, will have one year, counted from the date of validity of this law, in order to create and operate at least one Family Commissioner who has the interdisciplinary team referred to in Article 295, paragraph 2 of the Code of Minor.
PARAGRAFO. From the time of this law the Family Commissioners will be Administrative Career officials.
ARTICLE 31. This Law governs from its enactment.
The President of the honorable Senate of the Republic,
JULIO CESAR GUERRA.
The Secretary General of the honorable Senate of the Republic,
PEDRO PUMAREJO VEGA.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives,
RODRIGO RIVERA SALAZAR.
The Secretary General of the House of Representatives,
DIEGO VIVAS TAFUR.
COLOMBIA-NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
Publish and execute.
Dada en Santa Fe de Bogota D.C., a 16 de july de 1996.
ERNESTO SAMPER PIZANO
The Minister of Justice and Law,
CARLOS EDUARDO MEDELLIN BECERRA.
The Minister of Health,
MARIA TERESA FORERO DE SAADE
