Esta ley crea la "Ley de Planificación y Coordinación de Actividades de Impacto Público" para establecer un comité interagencial que coordine, a través de la Superintendencia de Tránsito de la Policía de Puerto Rico, los esfuerzos para facilitar la realización de manifestaciones públicas en horas pico y áreas específicas de vías públicas. La ley busca equilibrar la libertad de expresión con la necesidad de mantener el orden, la seguridad y la fluidez del tránsito. Establece definiciones, objetivos, autoridades y responsabilidades del comité, deberes de los grupos o personas que realizan las actividades, un programa de información ciudadana y penalidades por incumplimiento.
(Approved September 16, 2004)
To create the "Public Impact Activity Planning and Coordination Act," in order to commission an interagency committee with coordinating, through the Puerto Rico Police Traffic Superintendence, efforts to facilitate the conduction of public demonstrations to be carried out during peak hours in specific areas of public thoroughfares, with labor, political, civic, environmental, student, religious, and citizen organizations; institute penalties to that effect; and to carry out other related ends.
Freedom of expression is one of the foundations of democracy and is guaranteed by Article II, Section 4 of our Supreme Law, which predicates on the reality that the capability of a people to express its opinions guarantees the stability and efficiency of social, economic and political processes.
In Puerto Rico, freedom of expression within the context of the gradual progress of our democracy dating from the 1950s, has been growing and taking different shapes. Citizens as a group have become stronger in proportion to the economic progress and the solidification of the political and government structures of our Island.
In this question of law, both the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico and the U. S. Supreme Court have ruled that the State cannot bar freedom of expression in any way when exercised in the traditional forums for public expression, but it may indeed regulate the time, location and manner in
which people may make their expression, provided said regulations are neutral to the contents of the expression, respond to a significant public interest, limits intervention to a minimum when necessary to attain its goal, and leaves choices open for expression.
The mobilization of political groups, labor unions, environmental groups, student movements, and civic groups has been increasing year by year, which is proof positive of the capability, the maturity and the high level of our political system.
To those ends, and in response to the claim of large sectors of our population demanding that their freedom of expression be guaranteed but within a context of peace, stability and security for all citizens, this Legislature believes it necessary and imperative to legislate in order to establish a public policy framework that enables the institution of planning and contingency mechanisms in order to allow the State to coordinate the activities, demonstrations, and protests of all civic, social, union, political and religious sectors of the Island with the various organizations.
For these purposes, the "Public Impact Activity Planning and Coordination Act" is hereby created, in order to commission an interagency committee with coordinating, through the Puerto Rico Police Traffic Superintendence, efforts to facilitate the conduction of public demonstrations to be carried out during peak hours in specific areas of public thoroughfares, with labor, political, civic, environmental, student, religious, and citizen organizations; institute penalties to that effect; and to carry out other related ends.
Section 1.—Title.- This Act shall be known as the "Public Impact Activity Planning and Coordination Act."
Section 2 .-Statement of Public Policy.- It shall be the public policy of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to provide the mechanisms, conditions and guarantees to all citizens, that all public expression activities shall be carried out efficiently and respectfully and in conformance with the laws and statutes in effect.
It is also declared as a public policy that the Commonwealth shall promote and protect public demonstrations and activities by groups or persons in the public thoroughfares of our Island. It also favors coordination with participating organizations as to the general aspects in terms of the time and place where they intend to carry out the activity within a context of reasonability, safety and stability that guarantees the rights of all members of our society.
Section 3.-Objectives.- The following shall be the primary objectives of this Act: a. In keeping with the legal and constitutional framework and through coordination with the participating organizations, the general aspects shall be established as to the manner in which public impact activities shall be carried out in Puerto Rico.
Section 4.-Definitions.- a. Public Impact Activities.-Any march, demonstration, concentration of people, or protest conducted by organizations, groups, or individuals, whose finality is to express their position or opinion on matters of public interest and which is carried out on a public thoroughfare.
b. Main public thoroughfares.-The term shall be understood to include the following specific thoroughfares: Baldorioty de Castro Expressway; Luis A. Ferré Highway; Las Américas Expressway; and De Diego Expressway. c. Public thoroughfare.-The term shall be understood to include the expressways and highways that are a part of the thoroughfare network of Puerto Rico.
Section 5.—Interagency Committee.— An Interagency Committee is hereby created, with the main function of coordinating matters related to the implementation of this Act. The same shall be chaired by the Puerto Rico Police Superintendent and shall be composed by the Executive Director of the Roads Authority, the Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Public Works, the President of the Public Service Commission, and the Secretary of the Department of Labor and Human Resources. It shall be understood that the heads of the government entities included in this Committee may be represented by persons duly authorized by them to discharge the functions and responsibilities conferred in this Act and to act or make statements on their behalf. Provided, that the Committee shall have the authority to determine, through regulations adopted to that effect, the demonstrations that due to their nature, severity or implications deserve not to be delegated, but to be handled by the very head of the agency or dependency which is a part of the said Committee.
In addition to executing what is established in this Act, said Committee shall have the function of meeting periodically with the organizations, groups or persons that are to participate in the demonstration, at their request, in order to address any issues that may be resolved
administratively, in order to eliminate the need to carry out the public impact activity, as defined in Section 4 of this Act.
Section 6.-Authorities and Responsibilities of the Committee. - In the discharge of the functions commissioned in this Act, the said Committee shall have the following authorities: a. To implement the standards and criteria outlined in this Act so as to enable the coordination of public impact activities in an orderly and reasonable manner, within the constitutional and legal framework in effect. b. To create mechanisms to gauge the effect of public impact activities on the economy, health, safety, and stability or general peace of the population. c. To provide that during peak morning hours on weekdays, to be understood to be from 6 to 9 AM Monday through Friday, no events, demonstrations or public impact activities may be initiated or conducted on the main public thoroughfares, as defined in Section 4, subsection
(b) of this Act. To that effect, it is hereby provided that as part of said obligation, during those morning hours, no person or group shall take position, stop or place themselves, nor shall anyone stop, park or leave any vehicle, whether with or without occupants, or any animate or inanimate object or material, or animal or device of any kind, on traffic lanes, acceleration or deceleration lanes, bridges, entrance or exit ramps, or emergency lanes, when a public impact activity is to be held on any main thoroughfare as identified in Section 4, subsection
(b) of this Act. It is provided, further, that when demonstrations are being carried out on the Baldorioty de Castro Expressway within the hours established in this subsection, only one lane must be used for these purposes.
d. Immediately after having received the notice of intent to hold the activity in question, the Committee shall undertake efforts to coordinate with the participating groups or persons to adopt cautionary and security measures in order for the demonstration to take place on a public thoroughfare to be held within the legal framework of this Act and to be conducted in an orderly, efficient and reasonable manner. e. The Committee shall also coordinate efforts as needed with the agencies concerned in order to identify alternate thoroughfares, to contemplate special measures to tend to medical or social emergencies, to have Puerto Rico Police officers properly deployed, and to allow for a reasonably continuous flow of vehicles. f. An empirical base of official data shall be established in coordination with the Highway and Transportation Authority, so as to allow for the identification of alternate thoroughfares that could be used to canalize vehicles and people while the activity is being held, as well as alternate routes in order for citizens to always have spaces in which to exercise their freedom of speech. g. Public impact activities held under these Sections are to have the support of the Commonwealth in terms of available medical assistance and police security for demonstrators and of providing reasonable conditions in order for said activities not to be impeded, for which purposes, special measures shall be adopted. h. The necessary conditions shall be created in order to prevent demonstrations from being unnecessarily or unreasonably obstructed by nonparticipating groups or persons or by the very public official with the duty to implement this Act.
i. Guidelines and parameters shall be established in order to afford a certain rate of mobility to vehicles, persons and groups not participating in a public impact activity.
Section 7.—Duties and Responsibilities of Groups or Persons.- Any person or group who intends to conduct a public impact activity shall have the following duties and responsibilities: a. To notify within a reasonable period, not to be greater than 36 hours in advance of the event, the intent to conduct the activity, event or demonstration, subject to the non-applicability of the exceptions established in this Act; it being understood as an exception that the preceding restriction shall not apply when the event or situation which motivates the demonstration arises within the immediacies of the event in question or at a time before the thirty-six (36) hours that precede the demonstration. In these cases, the duty to notify shall be performed within a prudent and reasonable period, not to be less than twenty-four (24) hours, so as to allow for the activity to be coordinated with sufficient time in advance in order to enforce the provisions of this Act. b. To provide information on the nature and scope of the activity as to the number of people expected to attend, time and duration of the activity, activity starting and ending points in geographic terms, security plans, or other contingency measures. By no means shall said information include data or aspects regarding strategies, plans, subjects or objectives devised by the participating person or group; these shall be their exclusive property and shall not be subject to the duty to notify established in this Act. c. To cooperate with the agencies concerned in the adoption of contingency and security measures in order to allow for the orderly and reasonable conduction of the activity being held, so long as these do not
undermine the constitutional right to freedom of speech and free association to which protects demonstrating persons and groups. d. To take the corresponding actions in order for the people participating in the demonstration to abide by the criteria and demands set forth in this Act and by the coordination adopted pursuant thereto so as to allow for its enforcement in an orderly and efficient manner. e. To cooperate with the Committee before holding the activity in order to formalize a coordinated plan to facilitate the conduction of the activity, event, or demonstration without interfering unreasonably with the stability, mobility or safety of the people or groups not participating in the activity.
Section 8.-Citizen Information Program.- The Committee created hereunder is hereby directed to institute a citizen information program, to be employed as a mechanism to diffuse reasonably in advance, the contingency plans put into effect on occasion of the holding of public impact activities. The press media and any other mechanism shall be used to keep citizens informed on the nature of the activity to be held, the time and duration of the same, and other relevant details in order to allow citizens to take cautionary measures regarding the activity to be conducted. The Interagency Committee may use the press media or public service slots in the press media as a mechanism to diffuse citizen information programs. To this effect, it shall be understood that the agencies participating in the Interagency Committee shall undertake initiatives and set aside resources in order to enable compliance with this provision.
Section 9.—Penalties.- The Puerto Rico Police is hereby empowered to impose an initial administrative fine of not more and not less than (250) dollars on any natural or juridical person who fails to comply with the duties established in Section 7 of this Act. On subsequent occasions, a fine shall be imposed, to be greater than two hundred fifty (250) dollars, but not greater than five hundred (500) dollars. Provided, further, that the amount of the fine imposed shall be proportionate to the damages or injuries caused to the interest legally protected under this Act, i. e. the safety or mobility of the people not participating in the demonstration and the interest of the Commonwealth in having demonstrations conducted within reason, stability and safety.
Section 10.—By-laws.- The Interagency Committee is hereby empowered and directed to adopt by-laws as necessary to comply with the provisions of this Act.
Section 11.—Severability.— If any word, subsection, sentence, section, subject or any other portion of this Act were to be challenged before a Court for any reason and if the same were found to be unconstitutional or null, such a ruling shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remaining provisions or portions of this Act; the effect of such a ruling shall be limited to the specific word, subsection, sentence, section, subject or portions thus found unconstitutional or null.
Section 12.—Interpretation.- The Sections of this Act shall be interpreted in a restrictive manner as to their scope and meaning, in order for there to be strict adherence to the criteria set forth in this Act when applying the same and for the Sections not to acquire a meaning broader than that of the words or phrases used in the text of this Act. Provided, however, that in any matters incidental to the
constitutional rights of demonstrating groups or persons, the provisions of this Act shall be applied and interpreted liberally in favor of the free exercise of said rights.
Section 13.—Review.— Reviews of actions taken hereunder shall be conducted pursuant to the mechanisms provided for in Act No. 22 of January 7, 2000, as amended, better known as the "Puerto Rico Vehicle and Traffic Act."
Section 14.—Confidentiality.— It is hereby provided that the information in custody of the Committee in compliance with this mandate shall be meticulously and exclusively reserved by this entity for the purposes and objectives of this Act, and the same may not be shared or disclosed for purposes other than those set forth in this Act, nor may it be shared with government or private officials or entities not directly involved in the application of the duties and responsibilities contained in this decree.
Section 15.—Effectiveness.— This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.
I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 366 (H.B. 4464) of the $7^{ ext {th }}$ Session of the $14^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:
AN ACT to create the "Public Impact Activity Planning and Coordination Act," in order to commission an interagency committee with coordinating, through the Puerto Rico Police Traffic Superintendence, efforts to facilitate the conduction of public demonstrations to be carried out during peak hours in specific areas of public thoroughfares, with labor, political, civic, environmental, student, religious, and citizen organizations; institute penalties to that effect; and to carry out other related ends, has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today $8^{ ext {th }}$ of June of 2006.
Francisco J. Domenech Director