P.R. Laws tit. 34, § 3005
The Puerto Rico Institute of Forensic Sciences shall have the following functions:
(a) Investigate with the purpose of determining the cause, manner and circumstances of death of any person whose demise is produced under any of the circumstances specified in this chapter.
(b) Shall perform the necessary analyses and testing in the area of forensic sciences and criminology, and the investigation and handling of any criminal case in which its services are required, in close collaboration with the Department of Justice’s Office of Criminal Investigation and Prosecution, the Puerto Rico Police Department, or any other pertinent agency or bureau, as well as when required to do so by the Courts of Puerto Rico. Furthermore, it may render its services to other agencies or instrumentalities of the Government of Puerto Rico, the municipal police, federal agencies, and other jurisdictions that so request. Also, the Institute shall carry out a symposium of seminaries and workshops each year for members of the Puerto Rico Police Department, prosecutors of the Department of Justice of Puerto Rico, and judges of the Court of First Instance of the General Court of Justice on the matter of modern practices and techniques in the forensic and investigative process, so that an effective interagency communication can be established with regards to the investigation and processing of cases, including expertise in judicial proceedings.
(c) Contract the professional services needed to execute its charge without being subject to the personnel classification and remuneration scales.
(d) Stimulate the development of forensic pathologists, forensic scientists and criminologists. To such purposes, the Institute shall develop a teaching program in coordination with the Medical Sciences Campus, in medical-scientific and criminological subjects at the graduate as well as the post graduate level. The persons who pass these programs satisfactorily shall receive the corresponding university degrees and diplomas. It shall also create a scholarship program for advanced studies in professional and educational technical institutions within and without Puerto Rico. It shall also develop a personnel training program for the different investigating units of the agencies.
(e) Carry out scientific and technological investigations in the fields of forensic sciences.
(f) Give advice to all the instrumentalities of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, whenever it is necessary, on the matters under its jurisdiction.
(g) Collaborate with all the pertinent instrumentalities of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in the disclosure of the scientific-forensic topics under their jurisdiction, including, but without being limited to investigating procedures and scientific methods and techniques, with the purpose of preventing, investigating and fighting crime and accidents.
(h) Compile, organize, preserve, and publish data and statistics pertaining to the Institute’s matters. Likewise, it shall be entrusted with the creation of the Puerto Rico Sexual Assault Statistics Registry. To achieve the purposes of this subsection, the Institute shall require from any agency, corporation, dependency, or instrumentality of the Government of Puerto Rico, including the Judicial Branch and the municipalities any necessary data to create the Statistics Registry under its jurisdiction. Said Statistics Registry shall include, without being limited to, the following information:
(1) Socio-demographic data on the victim (age, gender, place of birth, city of residence, education, marital status, occupation, income, and source of income).
(2) Brief description of the facts.
(3) City and location where the facts took place.
(4) Circumstances affecting the victim’s vulnerability.
(5) Description of the assailant or assailants (relation to the victim, gender, and approximate age).
(6) Kind of sexual assault offenses (type and means employed)
(7) Situations arising after the assault.
(i) Adopt an official seal of which judicial knowledge shall be taken.
(j) Prepare and administer its budget.
(k) Accept and receive any donations or any other type of help in money, goods or services from private persons or institutions and administer them according to the terms of the donation and the law.
(l) Request and obtain help or assistance in money, goods or services from the Government of the United States, the states of the Federation, the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any of its agencies, public corporations or political subdivisions, for the purposes of this chapter pursuant to the applicable legislation, regulations, agreements or contracts.
History —July 24, 1985, No. 13, p. 689, § 5; Dec. 17, 2009, No. 183, § 1; Dec. 29, 2009, No. 200, § 4.