Senate sends PN Organic Law to Joint Commission

SD. The Senate of the Republic sent the legislative proposal for the Organic Law of the National Police to a joint commission. The proposal had been returned to Congress last Wednesday by the Executive Branch.

The joint commission is chaired by the senator from Santiago, Julio Cesar Valentin, from the Permanent Commission on the Interior and the Police and Public Safety. The deputy chair will be occupied by someone from the Chamber of Deputies who will be appointed together with the other members during next Tuesday's session of the chamber.

The legislative proposal was submitted last Wednesday to the Senate and introduced on the agenda of the ordinary session of that house for its consideration.

The first draft, which was withdrawn and modified by the Executive Branch, had paragraph 1 of article 23 eliminated. This paragraph said that the President should choose as the Director General of the Police, a general from the first five on the promotion list.

In the same article, they added the paragraph: "The appointment of the Director General of the National Police will be for a maximum term of three years, without affecting the discretionary powers of the President of the Republic to order the removal of the officer at any time."

In addition, in article 17, the makeup of the Superior Police Council was changed by excluding the proposal that it includes a member of the National Directorate for Drug Control (DNCD), and they included the Central Director of Antinarcotics from the National Police. The revision also eliminated the transfer of the DNCD to the control of the Attorney General's office.