CHILE Law and Practice Contributed by: Jorge Bofill and César Ramos, Bofill Escobar Silva
1. Criminal Law 1.1 Criminal Offences
act, the term starts to run once the defendant per - forms the last action. If the accused leaves the country at any time during the limitation period, the limitation period runs at half the speed – ie, two days abroad count as one. There are some crimes that, as an exception, are not subjected to the statute of limitations. Such is the case, for example, for sexual crimes against minors. 1.4 Extraterritorial Reach and Cross-Border Co-Operation In principle, only crimes committed in Chile can be prosecuted before Chilean courts. There are only a few exceptions to this. The extraterritorial reach of Chilean criminal law is specifically regulated in the Code of Organisation of Courts ( Código Orgánico de Tribunales ). Instances include crimes committed abroad by Chileans against Chileans, if the offend - er returns to Chile without having been prosecuted abroad, and cases where bribes are accepted by Chilean public officials abroad or a Chilean bribes a foreign public official. In addition, most of the Chilean legal literature and jurisprudence understands that the Chilean state can prosecute crimes if the execution of a criminal act begins in Chile, even though its effects are felt in another country, or if the execution of a crime begins abroad but the consequences are felt in Chile. Regarding international co-operation, Chile has signed several agreements and treaties, such as the Agreement for the Prevention and Combating of Seri - ous Crimes with the US and the Advanced Framework Agreement with the EU, that are meant to facilitate cross-border co-operation. Chile also has signed extradition treaties with many countries, such as the US, Canada, UK, Spain, France, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Australia and South Korea. Chile also has signed the UN Convention Against Corruption and the UN Convention on Transnational Organized Crime, both of which help facilitate the extradition process with other signing countries. Extradition for white-collar offences has not been specially regulated; therefore, it is ruled by the gen -
The Chilean Criminal Code classifies criminal offences according to the severity with which they are pun - ished. Crimes ( crímenes ) are the most serious types of law-breaking, with penalties ranging from five to 20 years of imprisonment; in a few cases, life imprison - ment may be considered. Misdemeanours ( simples delitos ) are punished with 61 days to five years of imprisonment. Offences ( faltas ) are those acts pun - ished with one to 60 days of imprisonment and fines, and very rarely lead to jail time. For an act to be punishable, it must have been done with intent. However, certain acts are punishable pre - cisely for their recklessness. The Chilean criminal sys - tem does not require any kind of motive to be ascribed to the offender to impose a sanction. Individuals may also be held responsible for attempt - ing to commit a criminal offence without having com - pleted the criminal act. However, in such cases, the offender will face a reduced penalty. 1.2 Burden of Proof Chilean criminal procedure considers the presump - tion of innocence of the accused to be a fundamental principle. In view of the foregoing, the burden of proof falls on the plaintiff or the Public Prosecutor’s Office. To convict, judges must be persuaded, beyond a reasonable doubt, by the evidence presented before them, that the accused committed the relevant crimes. 1.3 Statute of Limitations Under Chilean criminal law, limitation periods are established in consideration of the nature of the crimi - nal offence. Crimes ( crímenes ) have a limitation period of 15 years in cases where the law imposes a penalty of life imprisonment, or ten years in the other cases; misdemeanours ( simples delitos ) are limited to five years; and offences ( faltas ) are limited to six months. The limitation period is suspended once a criminal procedure is directed against the defendant. This term is counted from the day the criminal offence was committed. If the offence consists of a continuing
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