Esta ley revoca la Ley Núm. 82 de 13 de agosto de 1994, la cual se basaba en una enmienda constitucional propuesta sobre el derecho a fianza que fue rechazada en referéndum por el pueblo de Puerto Rico.
(Approved March 13, 2003)
To revoke Act No. 82 of August 13, 1994.
On November $6^{ ext {th }}, 1994$, a referendum of possible amendments to the Fifth Paragraph of Section 11 of Article II, and Section 3 of Article V of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico was made for the ratification or rejection of same by the People of Puerto Rico.
For such purposes, the aforementioned referendum set forth the following regarding the proposed amendment to the right to bail: "The Bill of Rights, Section 11, Paragraph 5, of Article II of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, regarding the right to bail, sets forth that: "Any person arrested for any offense shall be entitled to be freed on bail until convicted."
By means of this Referendum, an amendment to said paragraph is hereby proposed to read as follows:
"Any person arrested for any offense shall be entitled to be freed on bail until convicted, except when the person has been previously convicted for a felony, has been charged with committing one or more aggravated felonies, and is a threat to the community."
It is a well-known fact that said Referendum was not endorsed in the general elections that took place. In said elections, 712,291 (53.6%) of the electors voted against the referenced amendment, versus 605,866 (45.6%) electors who endorsed said Referendum. As a consequence, the referenced amendment to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico was not made.
Act No. 82 of August 13, 1994, was approved under the premise that the majority of the Puerto Rican people ¹ would uphold the Referendum raised by the government of the previous administration in 1994, a situation that did not take place.
This Legislature must adjust the laws and our juridical system to the legal realities of current Puerto Rican society. Therefore, this Act revokes a statute in effect that has no legal value, given that on November 6 th, 1994, said statute was rejected by the majority of the People of Puerto Rico.
Section 1.-Act No. 82 of August 13, 1994, is hereby revoked. Section 2.-This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.
⁰ ⁰: ¹ See Section 3 of Act No. 82 of August 13, 1994.
I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 85 (H.B. 3161) of the $5^{ ext {th }}$ Session of the $14^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:
AN ACT to revoke Act No. 82 of August 13, 1994, has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today $25^{ ext {th }}$ of February of 2004.
Elba Rosa Rodríguez-Fuentes Director