CHILE Law and Practice Contributed by: Jorge Bofill and César Ramos, Bofill Escobar Silva Abogados
9.2 Likely Changes to the Applicable Legislation of the Enforcement Body As previously noted, changes in corruption and bribery legislation have been made in Chile only recently. In addition, there are three relevant projects in progress, which seek to improve the prosecution of corruption. Bill No 15975-25 on Economic Intelligence Against Crime The first one is Bill No 15975-25 on Econom - ic Intelligence Against Crime, which aims to strengthen the investigation of illicit money by, among other measures, creating intelligence units within the National Customs Service and the SII and regulating their co-ordination with the financial analysis unit and the state intelligence system. Although the project focuses on crimes such as money-laundering, terrorist financing and other offences linked to organised crime, the authorities have argued that “controlling the money is also controlling corruption”, because it entails supervision of the way in which organ - ised crime gangs, due to their great economic power, manage to get into and corrupt decision networks, thereby restricting the state’s capac - ity to react. Bills No 14594 and 15523 on Issues Linked to Municipal Probity and Transparency The second one is Bills No 14594 and 15523, on issues linked to municipal probity and trans - parency. This legal initiative seeks to establish
transparency and accountability requirements for all private institutions (both for profit and non-profit), specifically, all those that receive contributions, subsidies, direct transfers, ten - ders or public funds of any type – from munici - palities and regional governments to powers of the state. This is so that the Comptroller General of the Republic can supervise all public funds delivered to these entities. In addition, it has been proposed to incorporate regulations for the prevention of corruption and to expand citizen participation mechanisms. Likewise, the project seeks to raise the levels of probity and trans - parency in municipal management and munici - pal participation corporations and foundations, which have been involved in public corruption scandals. Bill No 14795-07 Seeking to Establish a New Criminal Code Finally, Bill No 14795-07 seeks to establish a new criminal code. The current Criminal Code was enacted in 1875 and, although it has undergone constant modification and is complemented by multiple laws that deal with new crimes, there is consensus among all actors in Chile on the need for a modern criminal code. Consequently, since 2013, three drafts of a new criminal code have been presented as part of an initiative driven by the Ministry of Justice, the latest of which was submitted in October 2018.
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