Bill

This regulatory body is the product of years of work by renowned jurists and its preparation took more than a decade.

This process includes three stages: preparation of the initial project, detailed review of the project, submission to Congress and discussion and approval of the respective bill.

The initial project was drafted by the jurist Francisco Vargas Fontecilla, for which he studied the legislation of other nations. This task was assigned to him by the government in January 1863, which he completed in May of the following year. This project was made up of 398 articles, gathered in 20 titles and these subdivided into paragraphs. Said project would later be carefully studied by a commission appointed by the President of the Republic.

Manuel Egidio Ballesteros said that the project followed a clear logical order: it begins by determining the general rules applicable to all officials, to then clarify them and attribute specific rules to each of them, for this reason the extension of the normative body is smaller than the codes, for example the Civil Code consists of 2,524 articles, but the Review Commission opts for another path, determining from the beginning the classification and specific powers of each official, and it was presented that several officials of different categories and hierarchy They had common powers, this increased the number of references and made the meaning and scope of the law obscure.

The sources used by Francisco Vargas Fontecilla, in the text published in 1864, were the following works:

After the Vargas Fontecilla project (1864 project) was completed, the President of the Republic, José Joaquín Pérez, appointed a Commission with the order to review, study and indicate modifications to the project presented to him.

Members of the original Commission were:

Later in 1870 Luis Salas Lazo was appointed secretary, his former secretary remaining on the Commission, then the following joined it: Gabriel Ocampo,[15]​ Gregorio Víctor Amunátegui,[16]​ José de Bernales, Jorge Huneeus, Bernardino Opazo, Antonio Varas,[17]​ Joaquín Blest Gana,[18]​[19]​ Marcial Martínez,[20]​ Francisco Ugarte Zenteno,[21]​ José Bernardino Lira and Vicente Sanfuentes "Vicente Sanfuentes (politician)").[22]​.

The Commission carried out its work in two sub-stages, the first completed before 1869, there has been no document left to illustrate the review work, the second covering from July 1869 to May 1874, during which 52 sessions were held.

As a result of this work, in 1874, a bill was presented consisting of 411 articles plus a final article, grouped into 22 titles and a final one, this was the one that was submitted for consideration by the National Congress.

In 1874 the president sent the bill to the National Congress, being approved first by the Chamber of Deputies, then by the Senate.

The bill on the organization and powers of the Courts of Justice was presented to the National Congress by the then President of the Republic Federico Errázuriz Zañartu and his Minister of Justice, José María Barceló.[23] It entered into processing on June 6, 1874, having as its chamber of origin the Chamber of Deputies as a message from the President of the Republic; 19 days later, a new message from the executive was re-entered through the same chamber, in which numbers 6 and 7 of article 5 of the original message were modified.

In the proposed bill, he sought to preserve the current system of judicial institutions due to the danger and difficulty involved in destroying institutions that had strong roots in the habits and customs of the country.

The project has not only understood the State of the needs and resources present at the time of its preparation. The development of the country's interests has also been taken into account, consulting provisions for the needs of future times and after the establishment of the proposed law.

To avoid the emergence of conflicts derived from the introduction of other norms, it was considered necessary to temporarily modify some of its norms, since although they are necessary in a uniform whole, they cannot be adapted from now on to the prosecution system then in force.

Regarding the details of the project, the nature and limits of the powers of the judicial power are indicated, considered in itself and in relation to the other powers of the State.

President Errázuriz indicates that the project declares that the knowledge of all judicial business that is promoted within the territory of the Republic is subject to the courts of Justice. In addition, norms are established that grant and guarantee the independence of the judiciary and the publicity of the acts of the courts is established in accordance with the guarantee it provides.

The bill establishes that judicial power is exercised by judges from their delegation, by legal judges and mayors; by the Courts of Appeals and the Supreme Court, which are divided according to their jurisdiction and according to the instance in which the trial is located.[24]​.

The president made effective the intervention that the Constitution attributes to the higher courts in the proposals for the appointment of certain magistrates. There are also the duties and prohibitions to which judges are subject; its honors and prerogatives; the responsibilities incurred in the exercise of their positions and the cases in which their functions expire or are suspended.

Finally, when referring to the Public Ministry (today the Judicial Prosecutor's Office), President Errázuriz estimates that in the laws in force when presenting the project, a hearing by the Public Ministry is required in matters that do not affect the general interests of society and said hearing is omitted in many other cases that do affect them. Next to the Public Ministry, in charge of safeguarding the general interests of society, is the institution of public defenders, to whom the defense of the rights of the incapable, of those constituted in a certain state of helplessness and of charitable institutions is entrusted.

Finally, the Chamber of Deputies approves the project on September 3.

It is then sent to the reviewing chamber; the Senate, where the report on the project of the Constitution, Legislation and Justice Commission is approved, on August 18, 1875, and is finally approved between September 3 and 27. The project is returned to the President of the Republic on October 12 to be the subject of the co-legislative function of the head of State.

On October 13 of the same year, the president promulgated the project and was published two days later in El Araucano.[25]​.

Regarding the systematization of the law, it is made up of twenty-two titles plus a final title and are divided into articles that total 409.[26]​.

The law, within its most relevant provisions, contains rules that establish and guarantee the independence of the Judiciary from the other powers of the state, a fundamental principle in a constitutional State of Law. Likewise, the law establishes that the Judiciary will be made up of a series of legal officials.

The first Article is one of the important matters that regulates the law, it refers to the Judicial Power and the Administration of Justice, the provision proposed by Vargas Fontecilla was repealed by the Commission, in its place article 108 of the Constitution was transcribed considering the basis of the law, in the power to judge the criterion of “knowing” and “having what is judged executed” was added, thus achieving limitations on the powers of the Judge. Giving the Judiciary the power to rule is a way of resolving decisions directly, without giving room to the Executive Branch to intervene in the matter.

The second Article was criticized by the Review Commission, since it was too specific, the article mainly establishes that the Courts that Administer Justice, have the power to apply the laws to the facts, must resolve conflicts between the parties, giving timely resolutions, which must be fulfilled. The commission considered that a voluntary exercise of jurisdiction was necessary; this part of the article was taken, which indicates that the Judiciary is responsible for intervening in all non-contentious matters, giving the laws a practical content of this function of the courts, only needing the legal requirement.

The third Article, which deals with the Judicial Power, establishing that it cannot interfere in government matters, these matters are understood as the powers that, according to the Constitution and the laws, correspond to the government and its peers. These powers will be subject to the supervision of the Courts of Justice, in cases where the treasury, municipalities or public corporations appear as parties. The commission also considered adding regulations regarding the appointment of judges and other judicial officials, licenses, the granting of the title of lawyer and some more. After the first review of the commission, it was undertaken to distinguish the other powers of the Courts through general rules, then it was decided to generate articles 9 and 10, to establish the powers of the courts. For this reason, it is concluded to dedicate the first article to contentious jurisdiction, the second to voluntary jurisdiction, the third to disciplinary powers and the fourth to custody powers.

Article that expressly establishes the prohibition of the judicial power from mixing with other public powers, in this way it limits the judicial power to the powers determined by the law and the Constitution, thus providing independence to this power with respect to others, since the Constitution itself determines that no power may exceed its powers established by the same fundamental charter or the law that governs state bodies.

The norm in question begins with a topic that is not minor, since from the outset it reiterates, as in article 1, the characteristic of the courts, and in general of the Judicial Branch, to be able to have knowledge of any judicial matter within the State.

Based on this quality of the jurisdictional bodies, article 5 gives us a list in which there are certain exceptions regarding the knowledge of only some courts based on various cases or matters. Among some of the exclusivities of judicial knowledge is that existing in numeral four which explains that military crimes or crimes of a similar nature will be known only by the court established in the Military Code.

This article distinguishes two principles of judicial power which are still present in the organization of the courts;

This article relates to the fact that court agreements must be held publicly, and without prejudice to what has been said above, they may call rapporteurs whenever they consider it necessary.

This article is limited only to mentioning that, in addition to the judicial functions, there are others related to the administrative business of the public ministry, but that these functions will not be explained in this law, but in another law other than the Law on the organization and powers of the courts. It should be noted that the public ministry, which is referred to in this law, is only a name scope with the public ministry that is currently in Chile. The public ministry indicated in this law, has the function of being auxiliary to the administration of justice, in terms of the application of the law to certain situations in which this procedure is required prior to the hearing of the case.

Organic Code of Courts

In 1942, the President of the Republic Juan Antonio Ríos empowered the University of Chile to study a reform to the law of 1875. This is how its successor emerged, the Organic Code of Courts (COT), being promulgated on July 15, 1943, and remains in force to this day.

The Organic Code of Courts (COT) is made up of 18 titles, of which only 17 are listed, then comes a final title. After these titles, an additional part continues, not listed with a title relating to the transitional provisions. This code applies to all existing Courts of Justice in Chile, regardless of whether they are ordinary or special. In addition, it can deal with both civil and criminal cases.

The importance of the Law of Organization and Powers of the Courts lies in having established a more orderly organization of the Chilean courts, and a precise regulation of both their powers and their powers. It can also be mentioned that it was the first law in Chile that systematically and specifically regulated the courts of justice, since previously these were regulated inorganically by legal regulations and, in some aspects, by the Constitution in force at the time.

Likewise, it is the basis for the Organic Code of Courts, a legal body still in force.

Bill

This regulatory body is the product of years of work by renowned jurists and its preparation took more than a decade.

This process includes three stages: preparation of the initial project, detailed review of the project, submission to Congress and discussion and approval of the respective bill.

The initial project was drafted by the jurist Francisco Vargas Fontecilla, for which he studied the legislation of other nations. This task was assigned to him by the government in January 1863, which he completed in May of the following year. This project was made up of 398 articles, gathered in 20 titles and these subdivided into paragraphs. Said project would later be carefully studied by a commission appointed by the President of the Republic.

Manuel Egidio Ballesteros said that the project followed a clear logical order: it begins by determining the general rules applicable to all officials, to then clarify them and attribute specific rules to each of them, for this reason the extension of the normative body is smaller than the codes, for example the Civil Code consists of 2,524 articles, but the Review Commission opts for another path, determining from the beginning the classification and specific powers of each official, and it was presented that several officials of different categories and hierarchy They had common powers, this increased the number of references and made the meaning and scope of the law obscure.

The sources used by Francisco Vargas Fontecilla, in the text published in 1864, were the following works:

After the Vargas Fontecilla project (1864 project) was completed, the President of the Republic, José Joaquín Pérez, appointed a Commission with the order to review, study and indicate modifications to the project presented to him.

Members of the original Commission were:

Later in 1870 Luis Salas Lazo was appointed secretary, his former secretary remaining on the Commission, then the following joined it: Gabriel Ocampo,[15]​ Gregorio Víctor Amunátegui,[16]​ José de Bernales, Jorge Huneeus, Bernardino Opazo, Antonio Varas,[17]​ Joaquín Blest Gana,[18]​[19]​ Marcial Martínez,[20]​ Francisco Ugarte Zenteno,[21]​ José Bernardino Lira and Vicente Sanfuentes "Vicente Sanfuentes (politician)").[22]​.

The Commission carried out its work in two sub-stages, the first completed before 1869, there has been no document left to illustrate the review work, the second covering from July 1869 to May 1874, during which 52 sessions were held.

As a result of this work, in 1874, a bill was presented consisting of 411 articles plus a final article, grouped into 22 titles and a final one, this was the one that was submitted for consideration by the National Congress.

In 1874 the president sent the bill to the National Congress, being approved first by the Chamber of Deputies, then by the Senate.

The bill on the organization and powers of the Courts of Justice was presented to the National Congress by the then President of the Republic Federico Errázuriz Zañartu and his Minister of Justice, José María Barceló.[23] It entered into processing on June 6, 1874, having as its chamber of origin the Chamber of Deputies as a message from the President of the Republic; 19 days later, a new message from the executive was re-entered through the same chamber, in which numbers 6 and 7 of article 5 of the original message were modified.

In the proposed bill, he sought to preserve the current system of judicial institutions due to the danger and difficulty involved in destroying institutions that had strong roots in the habits and customs of the country.

The project has not only understood the State of the needs and resources present at the time of its preparation. The development of the country's interests has also been taken into account, consulting provisions for the needs of future times and after the establishment of the proposed law.

To avoid the emergence of conflicts derived from the introduction of other norms, it was considered necessary to temporarily modify some of its norms, since although they are necessary in a uniform whole, they cannot be adapted from now on to the prosecution system then in force.

Regarding the details of the project, the nature and limits of the powers of the judicial power are indicated, considered in itself and in relation to the other powers of the State.

President Errázuriz indicates that the project declares that the knowledge of all judicial business that is promoted within the territory of the Republic is subject to the courts of Justice. In addition, norms are established that grant and guarantee the independence of the judiciary and the publicity of the acts of the courts is established in accordance with the guarantee it provides.

The bill establishes that judicial power is exercised by judges from their delegation, by legal judges and mayors; by the Courts of Appeals and the Supreme Court, which are divided according to their jurisdiction and according to the instance in which the trial is located.[24]​.

The president made effective the intervention that the Constitution attributes to the higher courts in the proposals for the appointment of certain magistrates. There are also the duties and prohibitions to which judges are subject; its honors and prerogatives; the responsibilities incurred in the exercise of their positions and the cases in which their functions expire or are suspended.

Finally, when referring to the Public Ministry (today the Judicial Prosecutor's Office), President Errázuriz estimates that in the laws in force when presenting the project, a hearing by the Public Ministry is required in matters that do not affect the general interests of society and said hearing is omitted in many other cases that do affect them. Next to the Public Ministry, in charge of safeguarding the general interests of society, is the institution of public defenders, to whom the defense of the rights of the incapable, of those constituted in a certain state of helplessness and of charitable institutions is entrusted.

Finally, the Chamber of Deputies approves the project on September 3.

It is then sent to the reviewing chamber; the Senate, where the report on the project of the Constitution, Legislation and Justice Commission is approved, on August 18, 1875, and is finally approved between September 3 and 27. The project is returned to the President of the Republic on October 12 to be the subject of the co-legislative function of the head of State.

On October 13 of the same year, the president promulgated the project and was published two days later in El Araucano.[25]​.

Regarding the systematization of the law, it is made up of twenty-two titles plus a final title and are divided into articles that total 409.[26]​.

The law, within its most relevant provisions, contains rules that establish and guarantee the independence of the Judiciary from the other powers of the state, a fundamental principle in a constitutional State of Law. Likewise, the law establishes that the Judiciary will be made up of a series of legal officials.

The first Article is one of the important matters that regulates the law, it refers to the Judicial Power and the Administration of Justice, the provision proposed by Vargas Fontecilla was repealed by the Commission, in its place article 108 of the Constitution was transcribed considering the basis of the law, in the power to judge the criterion of “knowing” and “having what is judged executed” was added, thus achieving limitations on the powers of the Judge. Giving the Judiciary the power to rule is a way of resolving decisions directly, without giving room to the Executive Branch to intervene in the matter.

The second Article was criticized by the Review Commission, since it was too specific, the article mainly establishes that the Courts that Administer Justice, have the power to apply the laws to the facts, must resolve conflicts between the parties, giving timely resolutions, which must be fulfilled. The commission considered that a voluntary exercise of jurisdiction was necessary; this part of the article was taken, which indicates that the Judiciary is responsible for intervening in all non-contentious matters, giving the laws a practical content of this function of the courts, only needing the legal requirement.

The third Article, which deals with the Judicial Power, establishing that it cannot interfere in government matters, these matters are understood as the powers that, according to the Constitution and the laws, correspond to the government and its peers. These powers will be subject to the supervision of the Courts of Justice, in cases where the treasury, municipalities or public corporations appear as parties. The commission also considered adding regulations regarding the appointment of judges and other judicial officials, licenses, the granting of the title of lawyer and some more. After the first review of the commission, it was undertaken to distinguish the other powers of the Courts through general rules, then it was decided to generate articles 9 and 10, to establish the powers of the courts. For this reason, it is concluded to dedicate the first article to contentious jurisdiction, the second to voluntary jurisdiction, the third to disciplinary powers and the fourth to custody powers.

Article that expressly establishes the prohibition of the judicial power from mixing with other public powers, in this way it limits the judicial power to the powers determined by the law and the Constitution, thus providing independence to this power with respect to others, since the Constitution itself determines that no power may exceed its powers established by the same fundamental charter or the law that governs state bodies.

The norm in question begins with a topic that is not minor, since from the outset it reiterates, as in article 1, the characteristic of the courts, and in general of the Judicial Branch, to be able to have knowledge of any judicial matter within the State.

Based on this quality of the jurisdictional bodies, article 5 gives us a list in which there are certain exceptions regarding the knowledge of only some courts based on various cases or matters. Among some of the exclusivities of judicial knowledge is that existing in numeral four which explains that military crimes or crimes of a similar nature will be known only by the court established in the Military Code.

This article distinguishes two principles of judicial power which are still present in the organization of the courts;

This article relates to the fact that court agreements must be held publicly, and without prejudice to what has been said above, they may call rapporteurs whenever they consider it necessary.

This article is limited only to mentioning that, in addition to the judicial functions, there are others related to the administrative business of the public ministry, but that these functions will not be explained in this law, but in another law other than the Law on the organization and powers of the courts. It should be noted that the public ministry, which is referred to in this law, is only a name scope with the public ministry that is currently in Chile. The public ministry indicated in this law, has the function of being auxiliary to the administration of justice, in terms of the application of the law to certain situations in which this procedure is required prior to the hearing of the case.

Organic Code of Courts

In 1942, the President of the Republic Juan Antonio Ríos empowered the University of Chile to study a reform to the law of 1875. This is how its successor emerged, the Organic Code of Courts (COT), being promulgated on July 15, 1943, and remains in force to this day.

The Organic Code of Courts (COT) is made up of 18 titles, of which only 17 are listed, then comes a final title. After these titles, an additional part continues, not listed with a title relating to the transitional provisions. This code applies to all existing Courts of Justice in Chile, regardless of whether they are ordinary or special. In addition, it can deal with both civil and criminal cases.

The importance of the Law of Organization and Powers of the Courts lies in having established a more orderly organization of the Chilean courts, and a precise regulation of both their powers and their powers. It can also be mentioned that it was the first law in Chile that systematically and specifically regulated the courts of justice, since previously these were regulated inorganically by legal regulations and, in some aspects, by the Constitution in force at the time.

Likewise, it is the basis for the Organic Code of Courts, a legal body still in force.