Ministry of Justice and Human Rights (Chile)

The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights of Chile (Spanish: Ministerio de Justicia y Derechos Humanos; MinJusticia) is the state ministry responsible for liaising between the executive branch and the judicial branch, and promoting and fostering human rights. Currently, the lawyer and scholar Fernando Rabat serves as Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Luis Silva Irarrázaval holds the position of head of the Undersecretary of Justice and Pablo Mira is head of the Undersecretary of Human Rights, all appointed under president José Antonio Kast.^[3]

The Undersecretary for Human Rights is the chief executive of the Undersecretariat of Human Rights and the immediate collaborator of the Minister in matters within its sphere of competence, and, in the event of the absence or incapacity of the Undersecretary of Justice, serves as the latter's legal substitute.^[4]

The Ministry of Justice has been known by four different names:

• Ministerio de Justicia, Culto e Instrucción Pública (1837–1887)
• Ministerio de Justicia e Instrucción Pública (1887–1927)
• Ministerio de Justicia (1927–2016)
• Ministerio de Justicia y Derechos Humanos (2016–2026)

The ministry was first created on February 1, 1837, under the name Ministry of Justice, Worship, and Public Instruction (Ministerio de Justicia, Culto e Instrucción Pública), during the government of José Joaquín Prieto Vial. Its first minister was Diego Portales Palazuelos, who, having served only on an interim basis, handed over the office on June 26 of that same year to Mariano Egaña. At that time, the ministry's role was to oversee everything related to legislation and the organization of the judicial branch.

On November 25, 1870, an ordinance issued by President José Joaquín Pérez established the creation of a Special Guard for the Urban Prison of Santiago, (Guardia Especial para el Presidio Urbano de Santiago) which became the foundation of the Chilean Gendarmerie Corps, with the name becoming official on 1921.^[5]

The creation of the Civil Registry during the presidency of Domingo Santa María in 1884 responded to cultural changes in Chilean society at the time, marked by greater diversity, different religious beliefs, and new values. Accordingly, a Civil Marriage Law was promulgated on January 16, 1884, authorizing a judge to perform a civil marriage ceremony in cases where ecclesiastical authorities refused to do so.^[5]

In 1887, the Department of Worship was separated from the ministry and placed under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the institution was renamed the Ministry of Justice and Public Instruction. The dedication of physicians who applied their discipline in the service of justice was reflected in 1915 with the creation of the Legal Medical Service (Servicio Médico Legal, SML), a public body that provides legal and forensic advice to the country's courts of justice.^[5]

In 1927, the Organic Law of Ministries was enacted, which included the Ministry of Justice and, at the same time, created the Ministry of Public Education.^[5]

In 1943, the Civil Registry was merged with the Identification Service and came to be called the Civil Registry and Identification Service (Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación, SRCI), a name it retains to this day.^[5]

Three decades later, in 1973, a computerized system was established to systematize the issuance of the National Unique Number (Rol Único Nacional, R.U.N.) to every person born in national territory.^[5]

In January 1979, the National Service for Minors (Servicio Nacional de Menores, Sename) was created. According to the legal statutes of its establishment, this body represents the means by which the State assumes an active role in the protection of vulnerable children and adolescents and provides support to juvenile courts as an "auxiliary body of the administration of justice" (órgano auxiliar de la administración de justicia).^[5]

Law No. 17,995, of May 8, 1981, granted legal personhood to the current Judicial Assistance Corporations (Corporación de Asistencia Judicial, CAJ) of the Metropolitan, Biobío, and Valparaíso regions. These bodies replaced the former legal aid offices that had depended on the Chilean Bar Association in matters related to judicial assistance services.^[5]

In 1999, the Organic Constitutional Law of the Public Prosecutor's Office (Ley Orgánica Constitucional del Ministerio Público) was published, which was key to the successful implementation of the Criminal Procedure Reform (Reforma Procesa Penal, RPP). This institution is responsible for representing the community in criminal prosecution, directing criminal investigations, and providing assistance to victims and witnesses.^[5]

Starting on December 16, 2000, and continuing until June 2005, the country underwent a gradual process of implementing the RPP. The new criminal justice system incorporated "new standards of transparency, publicity, immediacy, speed, and orality", (nuevos estándares de transparencia, publicidad, inmediación, celeridad y oralidad) while separating the functions of investigation and adjudication, thus leaving behind "an inquisitorial and outdated system" (un sistema inquisitivo y vetusto).^[5]

In 2016, the ministry changed its name to the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights with the creation of the Undersecretariat of Human Rights, through Law No. 20,885, promulgated on December 16, 2015, and published in the Official Gazette on January 5, 2016.^[6]

The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights has the following twenty-six functions:^[4]

1. To carry out a critical study of constitutional provisions and of civil, criminal, commercial, administrative, and procedural legislation, in order to propose to the President of the Republic such reforms as it deems appropriate.
2. To collaborate, within the scope of its competence, with the President of the Republic on matters relating to the promotion and protection of human rights. In exercising this function, it shall critically review domestic legislation in light of International Human Rights Law and propose to the President of the Republic the reforms it considers appropriate in this regard.
3. To provide technical advice to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in proceedings before international human rights courts and bodies and, in the exercise of this function, to collaborate in the preparation of responses or reports submitted on behalf of the State of Chile.
4. To collaborate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the preparation and follow-up of periodic reports to human rights bodies and mechanisms; in the implementation of precautionary and provisional measures, friendly settlements, and international judgments to which Chile is a party; and, as appropriate, in the implementation of resolutions and recommendations arising from the Inter-American System and the Universal Human Rights System, without prejudice to the powers of other State bodies.
5. To enter into collaboration and cooperation agreements with public and private bodies, whether national or international, within the scope of its competencies.
6. To advise the President of the Republic on the appointment of judges, officials of the administration of justice, and other employees of the Judiciary, and on the exercise of the special power to oversee the official conduct of judges.
7. To formulate sector policies, plans, and programs, especially with regard to the judicial defense of the interests of the State; penitentiary treatment and the rehabilitation of convicted persons; the legal organization of the family and identification of persons; the guardianship exercised by the State in the administration and realization of the assets of persons who become insolvent; and the assistance systems applicable to children and adolescents who lack guardianship or whose guardianship has been altered, as well as to those who present conduct disorders or are in conflict with the justice system.
8. To monitor compliance with sector policies, plans, and programs and to evaluate their results.
9. To issue regulations and give instructions to which its dependent services must adhere, and to supervise their compliance.
10. To address the organizational and operational needs of the Courts of Justice.
11. To advise the Courts of Justice on technical matters through the bodies under its authority.
12. To plan and propose the acquisition, construction, adaptation, and fitting-out by the State of buildings for the Courts of Justice, the Ministry, and its dependent services, without prejudice to the powers of the Administrative Corporation of the Judiciary.
13. To propose to the Executive Branch the measures necessary to resolve difficulties and doubts submitted to it regarding the interpretation and application of the law, in accordance with Articles 5 of the Civil Code and 102 of the Organic Code of Courts.
14. To ensure the provision of free legal assistance in accordance with the law.
15. To propose measures to prevent crime through social reintegration plans.
16. To create penal institutions, penitentiary treatment and rehabilitation establishments.
17. To issue the resolutions necessary for the enforcement of final judgments that order payment by the State Treasury.
18. To advise the President of the Republic on matters relating to amnesty and pardons.
19. To examine the relevant records and, where appropriate, propose the granting of the benefits provided for in Decree Law No. 409 of 1932.
20. To intervene in the oversight of associations and foundations in accordance with Title XXXIII of Book I of the Civil Code, as well as to exercise all the powers and other functions conferred upon it by Law No. 20,500 on associations and citizen participation in public administration.
21. To participate in the legalization of instruments issued or authorized by the Judiciary, by the Ministry, by its dependent services, and by bodies that are related to the Government through the Ministry.
22. To issue the certifications and official documentary attestations requested by international organizations or foreign entities from the Government, in matters that may affect the State Treasury.
23. To approve the official text of the Codes and authorize their official editions.
24. To rule on the projects and execution of works of the Chilean Gendarmerie, and their priorities, which must be submitted for approval to the President of the Republic. With regard to these works, the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights shall have the same powers as those granted by law to the Ministry of Public Works for other works of this nature.
25. To maintain the Register of Mediators referred to in Law No. 19,968, which creates the Family Courts, and to set the corresponding fee schedule.
26. To perform the remaining functions and exercise the other powers entrusted to it by law.

The functional organizational structure of the Ministry is as follows: ^[4][7]

• Office of Planning and Budget (Oficina de Planificación y Presupuesto)
  • Budget and Finance Department (Departamento de Presupuesto y Finanzas)
  • Information Technology Unit (Unidad de Informática)
  • Concessions Unit (Unidad de Concesiones)
  • Projects Unit (Unidad de Proyectos)
  • Planning and Management Control Unit (Unidad de Planificación y Control de Gestión)
• Communications Unit (Unidad de Comunicaciones)
• International Cooperation (Cooperación Internacional)
• Ministerial Audit (Auditoría Ministerial)
  • Internal Audit (Auditoría Interna)
  • Citizen Service Area (Área de Atención Ciudadana)
• Research and Coordination Unit (Unidad de Investigación y Coordinación)

• Undersecretariat of Justice (Subsecretaria de Justicia), whose function is to provide advice and direct collaboration to the Minister in the preparation of plans, programs, and decisions in the sector under its responsibility. In addition, it oversees the Regional Ministerial Secretariats of Justice and Human Rights (Secretarías Regionales Ministeriales, Seremis).
• Undersecretariat of Human Rights (Subsecretaria de Derechos Humanos), whose function is to provide advice and direct collaboration to the Minister of Justice and Human Rights in the design and development of policies, plans, and programs related to the promotion and protection of human rights.

The public services and institutions that depend on the Ministry are as follows:^[7]

• Civil Registry and Identification Service (Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación, SRCI)
• Legal Medical Service (Servicio Médico Legal, SML)
• National Service for Minors (Servicio Nacional de Menores, SENAME)
• Gendarmerie of Chile (Gendarmería de Chile, GENCHI)
• Public Criminal Defense Office (Defensoría Penal Pública, DPP)
• Judicial Assistance Corporations (Corporaciones de Asistencia Judicial, CAJ)
• Contracted Family Mediation (Mediación Familiar Licitado, MFL)
• National Council for the Protection of the Elderly

The National Council for the Protection of the Elderly (Consejo Nacional de Protección a la Ancianidad, better known by its acronym, Conapran) is a private, non-profit corporation, constituted by public deed on September 24, 1974. Its legal personality was granted by Supreme Decree No. 1232 of the Ministry of Justice, dated October 2, 1974. Its main function is to help improve the quality of life of low-income older adults in conditions of social vulnerability at the national level.^[8]

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• minjusticia.gob.cl