By means of Exempt Resolution No. 02453, dated December 02, 2021, the Institute of Public Health (ISP) approved the Instructions on Procedure for the Collection of Fines applied in Sanitary Proceedings instructed by the ISP.

For the ISP it is necessary to publish and approve these Instructions due to the enactment of Law No. 21.388 that modifies the Sanitary Code regarding the collection of fines, which allows the General Treasury of the Republic (Treasury) to enforce such fines.

Thus, the guidelines provided by these instructions are as follows:

Within five working days from the date of notification of the sentence that applies the fine or resolves the appeal for reversal filed, the Chief Legal Counsel must issue a Memorandum addressed to the Subdepartment of Financial Management (Subdepartment), communicating: (i) the identification of the sanctioned party, (ii) number and date of the Exempt Resolution containing the sanitary summary judgment, (iii) number and date of the Exempt Resolution resolving the appeal for reconsideration of the sanitary summary if any, (iv) amount of the fine collected and (v) the corresponding notifications of the Exempt Resolutions.

1. The Subdepartment shall have a maximum period of 20 working days to carry out all extrajudicial collection efforts. No extension of the deadline for the payment of the fine may be granted, except for the 5-day period established in article 168 of the Sanitary Code.

2. In case payment is not received within the above term, this Subdepartment shall incorporate the information in the Treasury’s computer system, so that it may proceed with the collection of the fines.

3. Once the fine has been paid, the Subdepartment will send a copy of the proof of payment to the Legal Department, by means of a memorandum, so that it may be included in the procedural file, thus finalizing the collection process.

4. If after that, the amounts of the fines are modified as a result of a pronouncement of the Courts of Justice, hearing a claim action, the Legal Department shall inform the Subdepartment so that the penalties are removed from the Treasury system.

5. Finally, it provides an interpretation regarding the processing of sanitary summaries in relation to the publication of Law No. 21.388, stating that:

a. With respect to sanitary summary proceedings in which collection actions have been initiated before the Courts of Justice and have been notified to the defendant prior to the entry into force of Law No. 21.388, the processing shall continue in accordance with the rules of Title I of Book Three of the Code of Civil Procedure.

b. With respect to the sanitary summaries held by the Subdepartment, which have not initiated collection actions or have not been notified prior to the enactment of Law No. 21.388, they must be incorporated into the Treasury system.

Should you require additional information on this matter, please contact Andrea Abascal (aabascal@jdf.cl), and/or Rocío Vergara (rvergara@jdf.cl).