We invite you to read the letter written by our Criminal Group Director, Loreto Hoyos, on the challenges of the new Anti-Terrorism Law.
Mr. Director:
The new Law No. 18.314, which “determines terrorist conducts, fixes their penalties and repeals Law No. 18.314”, constitutes an important and fundamental step in favor of the country’s security, especially, taking into account the regrettable events we have known this last time.
Among its main modifications is the elimination of the requirement of having a structural or organizational element as the basis of the concept of terrorism and the broadening of the scope of terrorist conducts.
Although this is an important step forward, it should be noted that it is imperative the creation of specialized Anti-Terrorist units both at the level of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Investigation Police. Otherwise, the implementation of new prosecution techniques and the effectiveness of investigations may be hindered or hampered over time.
Since this law also has an unavoidable impact on the Law on Criminal Liability of Legal Entities, since Article 10 penalizes the organization that, by any means, directly or indirectly, provides or collects funds for the purpose of being used in the commission of any of the crimes indicated in the regulation, it is essential that companies and organizations can review and update their Risk Matrices, taking into account the changes in criminal offenses and associated penalties. It is also important that, in this sense, they update their Crime Prevention Models.
Letter written by:
Loreto Hoyos | Criminal Group Director | lhoyos@az.cl
