Civil Rights Commission: what it can do for you and what it cannot

It is Puerto Rico’s civil rights body, attached to the Legislature but not part of it. The first thing worth knowing is what it does not do: it does not resolve your case or grant you a remedy. What it does do — investigate, study, educate, press the authorities, appear as a friend of the court and recommend reforms — can be valuable, but it does not replace a claim in the proper forum.

Any citizen. The law expressly mentions, among the Commission’s functions, conducting studies and investigations on the effectiveness of fundamental rights “including complaints filed by any citizen relating to the violation of those rights.”

Information pending verification.

Information pending verification.

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   Step 1: First: the Commission does not adjudicate your case

   The text is direct: “The Commission shall have no authority to adjudicate individual cases or to adjudicate remedies.” If what you need is an order, damages or reinstatement, that is the court or the agency with jurisdiction, not the Commission. Saying it first saves you months.

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   Step 2: What it can do with your complaint

   Among its functions is conducting studies and investigations on the effectiveness of fundamental rights, including complaints filed by any citizen relating to the violation of those rights. Also pressing individuals and government authorities for the protection of human rights and strict compliance with the laws protecting them. And evaluating state and municipal laws, rules and actions relating to civil rights and suggesting reforms.

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   Step 3: It can enter a case as a friend of the court

   The Commission is empowered to participate as amicus curiae at any stage of a proceeding, and to authorize it needs the approval of a majority of its members. There is an express limit: the Commission may not intervene in any criminal proceeding.

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   Step 4: It has subpoena power, enforced in court

   The Commission and its Executive Director have authority to administer oaths and take statements and to order the appearance and testimony of witnesses and the production of any papers, books, documents and other evidence by subpoena. If a summoned witness fails to appear, does not produce the evidence or refuses to answer, the Chair may request the assistance of the San Juan Part of the Court of First Instance, and the Secretary of Justice must supply the necessary legal assistance. Any disobedience of the court’s order shall be punished as civil contempt.

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   Step 5: Public hearings: when and how to find out

   The law requires the Commission to provide in its regulations for public hearings at least twice (2) a year. Notices must be published ten days in advance in two newspapers of general circulation, and include detailed descriptions of the hearings’ purposes and the matters to be considered. At the start of hearings in each city, the chair shall explain the Commission’s mandate, purposes and rules, and each presenter shall be given a copy of the rules of procedure.

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   Step 6: If you testify: public, with counsel, and one exception

   All oral statements shall be heard in public sessions, except that where the Commission believes the evidence or testimony to be presented will tend to defame, degrade or incriminate any person, it may choose to receive that testimony in executive session; when reporting on the matter the Commission may make public any testimony or evidence received in executive session. Each presenter may, if they see fit, be advised by their lawyer.

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   Step 7: Its reports are public, and tracked

   The Commission submits an annual report and any special reports to the Governor, the Supreme Court and the Legislature, and makes them public no later than five days after sending them. After the first annual report, it shall include at the end of its annual reports a summary of the recommendations it has previously made and a description of the action taken on them. That tracking is useful: it lets you see what was recommended and what was done.

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   Step 8: The monthly hour on Government radio and television

   It is a little-known and verifiable fact: Government of Puerto Rico radio and television stations shall assign, free of charge, permanent air time of at least one hour monthly for disseminating civil rights. In addition, the Department of Education, the University of Puerto Rico, the Department of the Family, the Corrections Administration and the Puerto Rico Police, among other bodies, shall generally provide their facilities for the Commission’s educational activities.

The Commission establishes and organizes its own office, attached to the Legislature but not part of it, and designates an Executive Director. If what you need is a concrete remedy, the route is different: for employment discrimination, the Department of Labor and the Act 100 and Act 69 guides; for the rights of persons with disabilities, the corresponding bill of rights; for a criminal violation, a report to the Police.

• Going expecting it to resolve your case: the law says it does not adjudicate individual cases or remedies.
• Bringing it a criminal matter: the Commission may not intervene in any criminal proceeding.
• Failing to file your claim in the proper forum while waiting on the Commission.
• Not looking for the public hearings: there are at least two a year, announced ten days ahead in two newspapers.
• Going to testify without knowing you may be advised by your lawyer.
• Ignoring the annual reports: they include follow-up on previous recommendations and are public.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Oficina de Servicios Legislativos de Puerto Rico (OSL)

  Servicios Legislativos

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov

• Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico

  OSLPR

  www.oslpr.org