This law seeks to ensure that women convicted of crimes committed in a marginal context serve their sentence with community work.
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The Attorney General, Luz Adriana Camargo Garzón, outlined guidelines for prosecutors to promote and request judicial authorities to apply the measures and benefits of the Public Utility Law (Law 2292 of 2023) in the development of criminal proceedings and the issuance of sentences.
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The Minister of Justice and Law, Ángela María Buitrago Ruiz, said that the Ministry will provide legal advice to all women deprived of liberty so that they know if they meet the requirements of the Public Utility Law and the route they must follow to request it. Moreover, the Ministry and the Ombudsman’s Office will provide a guide with pedagogical tools to the judicial authorities, court social workers, and the Ombudsmen to deepen the understanding of the concepts of marginality and female head of household, included in the Public Utility Law
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The Ombudsperson, Iris Marín Ortiz, issued Resolution No. 003 of 2024, which contains the instructions and guidance for ombudsmen, judicial authorities, among others, to understand the public utility with a gender approach, in order to widen the implementation of this alternative measure.
The Attorney General, Luz Adriana Camargo Garzón; The Minister of Justice and Law, Ángela María Buitrago Ruiz, and the Ombudsperson, Iris Marín Ortiz, presented this monday from the so-called El Buen Pastor penitentiary center a series of concrete actions to facilitate women deprived of liberty to serve their sentence with community work, as established by the Public Utility Law, without having to serve their sentence in prison.
To date, 105 women have been released under the Public Utility Law (Law 2292 of 2023) and 2,549 places have been enabled throughout the country so that, more women can serve their sentence with community work in one of the 27 allies that the Ministry of Justice and Law has, including non-profit organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and public entities.
According to the figures provided by the public servants, in Colombia there are 5,942 women who could benefit from this measure, in which 1,423 women of the so-called El Buen Pastor in Bogotá would be potential beneficiaries of the Public Utility Law.
The Attorney General, Luz Adriana Camargo, specified through Directive 0002 of 2024 the scope of application, the assessment criteria, the difference between conditions of marginality and circumstances of lesser punishability, the criminal proceedings in which the benefits provided by the Public Utility Law are applicable and the different scenarios and time in which prosecutors must implement this rule to humanize the procedural action and therefore, to achieve prompt justice.
Law 2292 of 2023 established affirmative actions in the criminal and penitentiary policy for female heads of household convicted of certain crimes and those whose sentence is equal to or less than 8 years in prison, provided that it is proven that their conduct is associated with conditions of marginality that affect house support, and who, under certain requirements contained in the law, may obtain, as an alternative measure to the prison sentence, the public utility service, ex officio or upon request of a party.