Esta ley establece la Carta de Derechos de la Juventud en Puerto Rico, definiendo a los jóvenes como personas entre 13 y 29 años. Reafirma derechos constitucionales y legales existentes, y reconoce nuevos derechos para los jóvenes como miembros activos de la sociedad. La ley busca garantizar el desarrollo integral, la participación activa en la sociedad, una calidad de vida adecuada, la libertad de expresión, la participación en la política pública, la equidad, el acceso a la recreación, la igualdad de trato, servicios de salud, empleo justo y el trato especial para jóvenes en condiciones particulares. También establece los deberes y responsabilidades de los jóvenes, incluyendo el respeto a la Constitución y la protección del medio ambiente. La Oficina de Asuntos de la Juventud es responsable de monitorear y garantizar el cumplimiento de estos derechos.
(N. B. 1770) (Approved July 26, 2003)
To adopt the Bill of Rights of Youths in Puerto Rico.
Youth is a society's most precious treasure. The illusions, strength, and rebelliousness of youth are a bridge linking past, future, continuity, and substantial transformations in the country's development. Youth is the perfect canvas for a painter's greatest work; the future of humanity. The State, in the discharge of its duty to guarantee respect and faithful compliance regarding the rights of our youth, acknowledges that these creators of our future must be provided with the tools for their own integral growth, and for their active development and participation in the individual, social, and political endeavors of all in Puerto Rico.
The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Supreme Court, and many laws acknowledge a wide range of our youths' rights. However, the Bill of Rights of Youths in Puerto Rico is a reaffirmation of those formerly granted rights, as well as of other rights, which are acknowledged for the first time in this Act, to which the young are entitled as active members of Puerto Rican society.
The rights set forth herein are the State's acknowledgement that youths constitute a segment characterized by its transforming energy, active shared participation, and innovative creative spirit, as well as for the preservation of
hope and the search for a better world for society. The State also acknowledges situations that in the past turned youths into the victims of indifference, abuse, violence, mistreatment of their dignity, and the exploitation of their energy and creativity, thus affecting their integral development, respect for their potential, and the prospects of liberty and social progress to which they legitimately aspire. Therefore, the Bill of Rights of Youths in Puerto Rico herein set forth is a measure for the consolidation of youth rights, and to state their duties, without attenuation.
The purpose of this declaratory Act stating the rights of youths in Puerto Rico is to emphasize their condition as human beings that are truly, completely, and effectively entitled to rights, to promote gender equality, and to guarantee true equal opportunities, promoting affirmative action which allows dealing with and finding solutions to specific needs, while caring and validating youths as the strategic performers of the social development of Puerto Rico.
Section 1.- Title This Act shall be known as the "Bill of Rights of Youths in Puerto Rico Act."
Section 2.- Definitions The terms and phrases contained in this Act shall have the following meanings:
(a) "Youth" shall mean all persons between 13 and 29 years of age. "Youths" shall mean the social body in possession of a considerable influence in the present and future of Puerto Rican society.
The Bill of Rights of Youths of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is hereby created, with complete awareness and responsibility toward the achievement of the maximum development and well-being of youths between 13 and 29 years of age which, without prejudice to the laws in effect, shall be entitled to the rights set forth and conferred herein.
Section 1.- CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS. Youths shall hereby be entitled to the State's guarantee of the rights set forth in the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the applicable Laws and Regulations.
Section 2.- INTEGRAL DEVELOPMENT. Youths shall hereby be entitled to live in an appropriate environment in their parents' home, and with families that satisfy their physical needs, with complete enjoyment of care, protection, and affection that guarantee their full physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development.
Section 3.- PARTICIPATION. Youths shall hereby be entitled to participate actively in the social, economic, and political development of Puerto Rico, in compliance with the dispositions set forth by law and the constitutional ordinance of the country.
Section 4.- QUALITY OF LIFE. Youths shall hereby be entitled to be guaranteed that they can live their adolescence and youth as creative, vital and formative phases, receiving holistic education, and in healthy environments for the improvement of their quality of life.
Section 5.- FREEDOM OF SPEECH. Youths shall hereby be entitled to the free development of their personality, freedom of conscience, political diversity, to express their identity and manners of
thinking and feeling, and to think and act according to the cultural and social values that guarantee the peace, security, and tranquility of Puerto Rican society.
Section 6.- PUBLIC POLICY. Youths shall be entitled to participate as social performers in government debates, developing the creation of public policy that is part of social reality and the development of the country, guaranteeing the right to free of speech as well as the democratic rights that shelter us.
Section 7.- DEMOCRACY. Youths shall be entitled to have society and the State guarantee for them the development and adoption of the democratic mechanisms for the participation of youth in the diverse instances of life in Puerto Rico.
Section 8.- EQUITY. Youths shall be entitled to have the legal system of Puerto Rico enforce compliance with their constitutional rights, guaranteeing intolerance toward age, race, color and gender discrimination.
Section 9.- RECREATION. Youths shall be entitled to recreation in environments that are free from alcohol, drugs, pornography and other social problems that diminish the physical and mental health of human beings.
Section 10.- EQUALITY. Youths shall be entitled to receive respect and equal treatment in any circumstance of daily life in Puerto Rico.
Section 11.- HEALTH. Youths shall be entitled to receive health services according to their needs.
Section 12.- EMPLOYMENT. Youths shall be entitled to join diverse activities and productive branches, and to obtain access to fair
and stable employment for their sustenance and personal and professional development, which shall be monitored by the State, to ensure they do not become the object of any discrimination for being young.
Section 13.- SPECIAL CONDITIONS. Youths that are under special conditions and situations, due to physical (motor, sensory, or physiological, or deprivation of their liberty due to compliance with dispositions) shall be entitled to receive equal treatment and to participate in opportunities that guarantee their integral development, as well as to receive services that improve their quality of life.
Section 14.- DUTIES. It is the responsibility of all youth to respect and comply with the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, respecting the rights of others, promoting solidarity and peaceful coexistence that allows for the development of all members of society.
Section 15.- RESPONSIBILITIES. It is the responsibility of all youth to make adequate use of the natural, environmental and cultural resources to satisfy their current needs, but without jeopardizing the needs of future generations and their right to enjoy and live in a healthy and balanced environment.
Section 4.- Responsibility It is hereby set forth that it shall be the responsibility of the Executive Director of the Office of Youth Affairs, Office of the Governor, to monitor, ensure and guarantee faithful compliance toward each and every one of the rights set forth in the "Bill of Rights of Youths in Puerto Rico."
Section 5.- Requirement of Informative Sign The Executive Director of the Office of Youth Affairs, Office of the Governor, shall prepare and distribute a sufficient amount of signs,
announcements, or notices pertaining to the approval of this Act as an official notification of the purposes set forth herein which shall be distributed to the Agencies and instrumentalities of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, provided hereby that same shall be maintained visible in all government dependencies that render youth services.
Section 6.- Effectiveness This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.
I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 167 (S.B. 1770) of the $5^{ ext {th }}$ Session of the $14^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:
AN ACT to adopt the Bill of Rights of Youths in Puerto Rico, has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today $17^{ ext {th }}$ of May of 2004.
Elba Rosa Rodríguez-Fuentes Director