Capítulo VIII. Del procedimiento

For the prosecution of the crimes established by this law, the procedure set forth in the Criminal Procedure Code shall apply.

Without in any way impairing the rights that the Political Constitution of the Republic and other laws confer on the accused, due to the nature of the crimes to be investigated in accordance with this law, the proceedings of the instruction phase shall be confidential.

In addition to the powers conferred on him by the Code of Criminal Procedure, the judge, on its own initiative or at the request of a party, without opening a separate incident, may decide:

1.The travel restriction of the accused persons.

2.The attachment of property.

3.The annotation of the property in the Property Register.

4.The seizure of property.

5.The seizure of books and accounting records.

6.The suspension of patents, permits and licenses that have been duly issued and that have been used in any manner for the commission of the unlawful act.

7.The freezing of the bank accounts of the accused persons or of persons who have benefited directly or indirectly from the crimes committed by them.

8.The total or partial closure, for the strictly indispensable time and areas, of hotels, boarding houses, establishments where alcoholic beverages are sold or consumed, restaurants, clubs, nighttime entertainment centers, show halls; and in general, any place where he has knowledge that a crime defined in this law has been committed.

The precautionary measures specified in the preceding items shall be applied immediately to guarantee the effectiveness of the decisions to be issued; the judge may revoke them at the request of a party or on its own initiative.

(Paragraph added by Article 4 of Decree 17-2003 of the Congress of the Republic). In case of danger due to delay, the Public Prosecutor's Office may order at any time during the investigation or from the time it obtains the pertinent information, the precautionary measures provided for in this article, but it shall request judicial validation within forty-eight hours after the measure, attaching the pertinent information. The judge or tribunal shall confirm or not confirm the measure in a reasoned order and shall take the appropriate measures for compliance with its decision. When it concerns seizure of instruments or objects of the crime, proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure and Articles 18, 19 and 57 of this Law.

The competent First Instance Judge shall decree on its own initiative, immediately upon issuance of the order of prosecution, the attachment, the annotation of property in the respective registries and the freezing of all bank accounts or instruments of the crime susceptible to forfeiture, or to secure the fines, civil liability and costs and procedural expenses. In the event that said property is insufficient also also they shall be allowed to change identity. International treaties on drugs, narcotics and persons who may have benefited from the crime. The competent judge or tribunal may also decree such measures at any other time, on its own initiative or at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office.

Notwithstanding the foregoing measures and while the proceedings last, the judges shall order that the movable property or immovable property seized, sequestered or attached for the crimes provided for in this Law, and which by their nature and characteristics may be useful in prevention activities and the fight against drug trafficking, be used temporarily exclusively for such activities by the Public Prosecutor's Office or the Ministry of the Interior, provided that they do not belong to third parties of proven good faith. In cases where the owner cannot be reliably identified or the lawful ownership, possession or use of said property cannot be established, the competent judge shall decree it immediately. When vessels or aircraft are involved they shall be delivered to the Ministry of Defense for exclusive support activities to the Public Prosecutor's Office and the National Civil Police in the prevention and fight against drug trafficking.

For the purposes of the preceding paragraph, at the request of the Prosecutor General of the Republic, the Ministry of the Interior or their representatives or delegated persons, the judge shall grant a hearing for three days to those who, according to what appears in the case file, might have a legitimate interest in the property. Once the hearing is concluded, the judge shall decide immediately, in a reasoned order in accordance with the procedural record. When he authorizes the temporary use of the property, he shall order immediate delivery to whom it corresponds, which he shall place on record by means of a record containing the most complete description of the property. The record shall form part of the procedural record and, from its signing, said institutions may make use of the property for the purpose indicated in the preceding paragraph.

The Sentencing Tribunal or the competent judge, when decreeing forfeiture pursuant to Article 18 of this Law, shall decide that the property delivered for temporary use shall become part of the estate of the corresponding institution and shall order the respective annotation.

In any case, the funds described above shall be allocated to combating and preventing the crimes referred to by this Law.

Bank secrecy shall not apply in investigations of the crimes referred to in this law. Information received shall be used exclusively for purposes of the criminal proceedings and may only be ordered by a competent judge on its own initiative or at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office.

In order to protect witnesses in danger, the competent judges may exempt them from the obligation to indicate their domicile and in special circumstances to indicate their personal data. Whenever it is absolutely necessary,

In the cases of the crimes established in this law, the statements of the co-perpetrators or accomplices of the same crime are valid and shall be assessed as evidence when, applying the rules of sound critical judgment, they are consistent with the other evidence in the proceedings.

Release on bond shall not be admissible with respect to any accused person as a principal or accomplice of the criminal acts defined in this law, nor shall suspension of the sentence be applied, except in the cases contemplated in Articles 16 and 18 of this law, nor shall the granting of a pardon in favor of any person who has been sentenced be admissible.

For the granting of any penitentiary benefit during the service of the sentence, prior to its application, the Public Prosecutor's Office shall be consulted, which may object by way of incidents before the competent tribunal.

In the final judgment, the judge shall order the forfeiture of the property subject to seizure and shall establish the amount of civil liabilities, which, if not paid within the time limit of three days from the ruling becoming final, shall give rise to enforcement of what was decided, proceeding to the auction sale of the attached property; and, where applicable, to adjudication in payment.