Key Benefits:
941 OF 2005
(January 14)
Official Journal No. 45.791 of January 14, 2005
For which the National System of Public Defender is organized.
THE CONGRESS OF COLOMBIA,
DECRETA:
PRINCIPLES OF THE NATIONAL PUBLIC DEFENDER SYSTEM.
ARTICLE 1o. PURPOSE. The National System of Public Defender's Office is intended to provide access for persons to the Administration of Justice in criminal matters, on equal terms and in the terms of due process with respect to the rights of the public. and substantial and procedural guarantees.
ARTICLE 2o. COVERAGE. The National System of Public Defender will provide its services in favor of persons who, due to their economic or social conditions, are in circumstances of manifest inequality to provide themselves with the defense of their rights. It shall also be provided for the purposes of the process provided for in paragraph 2 of Article 43 of this Law, in which case the accused or accused shall pay the System all the fees and expenses caused.
For the purposes of this law, it is understood by person in economic impossibility, that which lacks sufficient resources to provide its technical defense and per person in social impossibility, that which by discrimination or other exclusionary circumstance cannot access a particular defender.
ARTICLE 3o. EQUALITY. The National System of Public Defender's Office will have the necessary instruments to intervene in court proceedings on equal terms with other procedural subjects.
ARTICLE 4. RIGHT OF DEFENSE. The National System of Public Defender will guarantee the right to a comprehensive, uninterrupted, technical and competent defense.
ARTICLE 5o. OPPORTUNITY. The National System of Public Defender will provide a timely service, for which the procedures to be followed will be regulated.
ARTICLE 6o. GRITY. The National Public Defender System will provide its service free of charge with the exceptions provided for in this law.
ARTICLE 7o. CALITY. The National Public Defender System will have standards that guarantee the quality and efficiency of service delivery.
ARTICLE 8o. RESPONSIBILITY. The lawyers who provide the service of judicial assistance and representation in the National System of Public Defender will be subject, as appropriate, to the exercise of their rights and the fulfilment of their obligations, to the responsibilities and penalties imposed on them by their status as public servants or private individuals who fulfil public functions and their faults in the exercise of the profession of lawyer shall know the Disciplinary Chambers of the Sectional and Superior Councils of the Judicature in their respective instances.
ARTICLE 9o. OBJECTIVE SELECTION. The legal and natural persons who contract with the National System of Public Defender will be chosen in accordance with the principles of transparency and objective selection.
ARTICLE 10. INTERNATIONAL TREATIES. The National System of Public Defensory shall ensure the prevalence in the internal order of the Treaties and International Conventions in accordance with Articles 93 and 94 of the Political Constitution.
GENERAL PROVISIONS
OBJECT OF THE NATIONAL PUBLIC DEFENDER SYSTEM
ARTICLE 11. OBJECT. This law aims to develop principles, norms and procedures, as well as to regulate the organization and functioning of the National System of Public Defender.
The Public Defender's Office shall ensure appropriate judicial assistance to members of indigenous peoples and ethnic communities in accordance with the principles of cultural diversity and ethnic pluralism outlined in the Constitution.
ARTICLE 12. APPLICATION. The National System of Public Defender will provide its service in criminal matters.
ORGANIZATION AND COMPONENTS OF THE NATIONAL PUBLIC DEFENDER SYSTEM
ARTICLE 13. ORGANIZATION. The National System of Public Defender is a public service that organizes, directs and controls the Ombudsman, in favor of the persons who require it to assume its assistance and judicial representation and to guarantee the full and equal access to the administration of justice in criminal matters.
ARTICLE 14. SYSTEM COMPONENT. The National System of Public Defender is composed of the National System of Public Defender, Regional and Sectional Ombudsmen, administrative and management coordinators, academic coordinators, municipal personeros, public defenders, private lawyers linked as Public Advocates for the exceptions provided for in this law, investigators, technicians and auxiliaries, the judiciary, the students from the legal offices of the faculties of law, persons and Scientific associations dedicated to criminal investigation and organizations that provide training to System components.
The legal programs that the indigenous authorities establish will also belong to the System.
ARTICLE 15. BENEFIT. The public office of defense shall be provided by law professionals linked to the System in the national territory, except as provided for in Articles 16 and 17 of this law.
ARTICLE 16. JUDICIARY. The graduates of the law faculties will be able to perform their judiciary as public defenders, in the terms provided for in the law and under the direction of the National System of Public Defender.
ARTICLE 17. STUDENTS FROM THE LEGAL OFFICES. Students from the legal offices of the law faculties of the legally recognized universities in the country, who are part of the National System of Public Defender, will be able to provide assistance and judicial representation in criminal matters.
ARTICLE 18. RESEARCHERS, TECHNICIANS AND AUXILIARIES. The National Public Defender System may link investigators, technicians, auxiliaries and scientific organizations of criminal investigation to provide services of collection of probative material, technical and scientific advice necessary for the defence.
ARTICLE 19. TRAINING. Organizations that offer training services to operators must observe, among others, the modules and contents defined by the National System of Public Defender.
OF THE ADDRESS STRUCTURE OF THE NATIONAL PUBLIC DEFENDER SYSTEM
ARTICLE 20. DIRECTION AND COORDINATION. 28 of Decree 25 of 2014 >
REGIONAL AND SECTIONAL DEFENDERS
ARTICLE 21. DECENTRALIZED ADVOCACY. 28 of Decree 25 of 2014 >
FUNCTIONS OF THE ORGANS OF THE NATIONAL PUBLIC DEFENDER SYSTEM
FUNCTIONS OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL PUBLIC DEFENDER SYSTEM
ARTICLE 22. FUNTIONS. 28 of Decree 25 of 2014 >
OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE REGIONAL OR SECTIONAL OMBUDSMAN IN THE NATIONAL PUBLIC DEFENDER SYSTEM
ARTICLE 23. FUNTIONS. 28 of Decree 25 of 2014 >
OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE AND MANAGEMENT COORDINATORS ' FUNCTIONS
ARTICLE 24. FUNTIONS. 28 of Decree 25 of 2014 >
These are the functions of the Administrative and Management Coordinators:
1. Coordinate and control the development of the public defender service of the unit in charge at each regional or sectional office.
2. Supervise the performance of the contractual obligations of natural or legal persons who in the unit of charge, in each regional or sectional office, are part of the National System of Public Defender, in accordance with the law and the rules to be set.
3. Submit a bimonthly management report or when the Director of the National System of Public Defender requests it.
4. Support the training program of the National System of Public Defender of the unit in charge, in each regional or sectional office, under the coordination of the Training and Research Unit.
5. Consolidate the service delivery statistics in the unit at your office in each regional or sectional office.
6. The other functions that the Director of the System requests to assume and are related to the provision of the service of the public defender.
OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE MUNICIPAL PUBLIC DEFENDER
ARTICLE 25. FUNCTIONS OF THE MUNICIPAL PERSON. At the municipal level, under the Directorate of the Ombudsman and the guidelines established by the Director of the National System of Public Defender, the Municipal Person will be responsible for the provision of the service. Consequently it should:
1. Receive the requests for the service provided by the National System of Public Defender in the municipality.
2. Request the allocation of public defender, subject to verification of the applicant's socio-economic status or the needs of the process, without any discrimination and in accordance with the guidelines established by the System Directorate National of Public Defender and under the coordination of the Regional or Sectional Defender.
3. Keep records of requests for the assignment of public defender and refer to the Regional or Sectional Defensoria of its jurisdiction the statistics of care in the municipality in charge, in accordance with the guidelines established by the National System Address.
OF THE NATIONAL SYSTEM
COMPONENTS OF PUBLIC DEFENDER
OF PUBLIC DEFENDERS
ARTICLE 26. DEFINITION. They are the lawyers connected to the Public Defender's Service which administers the Ombudsman's Office, prior to the fulfilment of the requirements, through the figure of the contract for the provision of professional services, to provide the technical assistance and judicial representation in favour of persons who are in the conditions provided for in Article 2o of this Law, in accordance with the rules laid down in the Staff Regulations State Procurement.
Contracts for the provision of specialised professional services may be concluded with an exclusivity clause and shall not in any case result in a working relationship with the Institution.
ARTICLE 27. CLASSIFICATION. For the purposes of their remuneration, the Public Defenders of the System may be classified into three (3) categories:
1. Public defenders before municipal criminal judges.
2. Public defenders before criminal judges of the circuit and the specialized circuit.
3. Public defenders before the Criminal Chambers of the Superior Courts of the Judicial District and the Supreme Court of Justice.
PARAGRAFO. In the event that a resource is required to support a higher official, the public defender must act without meaning to change the category.
ARTICLE 28. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS. The Ombudsman shall establish by regulation the minimum requirements to be met by public defenders in accordance with the categories referred to in this Chapter, and to hire private lawyers. in those remote regions of the country where there is insufficient or no provision of professional services for the provision of the public service.
ARTICLE 29. REMUNERATION. The Ombudsman shall establish the system of remuneration of public defenders, which shall meet criteria of dignity, proportionality, procedural burden or complexity of matters, category of officials before who is acting and professional fees in force.
ARTICLE 30. RIGHTS OF THE PUBLIC DEFENDER. The public defender shall be entitled to:
1. Exercise their work independently. However, you will be able to exchange technical opinions in the field of the National Public Defender System in order to achieve effective defense.
2. Not be related to the causes or to the users to whom it represents as a consequence of the performance of their functions.
3. Be treated with respect.
4. Do not be subject to threats of any kind. The authorities shall provide protection to public defenders whose personal security is threatened by the performance of their duties.
ARTICLE 31. OBLIGATIONS OF THE PUBLIC DEFENDER. The public defender shall fulfil the following obligations:
1. Manifest the existence of any impediment. You may not have any personal interest with the cause or the user that you represent.
2. Exercise technical, appropriate and timely defense.
3. To verify the respect of human rights, as well as the enforcement of judicial guarantees by the authorities in the processes of their office. In case of violation, bring the resources you consider relevant and report in writing to the Regional Office on such violations and the actions brought forward to counter them.
4. To assume immediately, with care and diligence until the end of the process, the judicial or extrajudicial representation in the matters assigned by the National System of Public Defender.
5. To keep absolute reservation and secrecy about the facts, information or any data or evidence known in the exercise of their work, except for exceptions established by law.
6. To comply with its obligations under the rules governing the exercise of the profession of lawyer and those that regulate its performance as a public defender, and to refrain from assuming the defense as a particular proxy within the processes in the which has acted as a public defender or has provided advice.
7. Report to the Administrative and Management Coordinator in accordance with the parameters established by the Director of the National Public Defender System.
8. The others that derive from the nature of their work and those that the Director of the National System of Public Defender points out.
PARAGRAFO. The Directorate of the National Public Defender System may establish specific obligations for each of the programs that will be defined in the respective regulations.
OF PARTICULAR LAWYERS LINKED TO THE SYSTEM
