P.R. Laws tit. 20, § 2603
The College of Draftsmen of Puerto Rico shall have power:
(a) To subsist in perpetuity under this name; to sue and be sued as [a juridical] person.
(b) To possess and use a seal which it may alter at will.
(c) To acquire rights and real and personal properties by donation, assessments on its own members, purchase or otherwise, and to possess, transfer, mortgage, lease and dispose of them in any way.
(d) To appoint its directors, officials or officers, who shall be elected in number of thirteen (13), of whom there shall be at least one (1) from each zone, as they are established in the College’s Regulations.
(e) To adopt its bylaws which shall be binding on all its members, as may be provided by the assembly provided for in § 37 of this act, or in default thereof, the Governing Board of the College which is hereinafter established; and to amend said bylaws in the manner and under the requirements established therein.
(f) To adopt and implement the code of professional ethics that shall govern the conduct of draftsmen.
(g) To receive and investigate written and sworn complaints about the conduct of its members in the practice of their profession, and remit them to the Governing Board of the College for action. The bylaws shall provide for a hearing in which the person involved or his/her legal representative shall be given the opportunity to be heard, and if just cause were found, to impose the proper sanctions which, in its discretion, may proceed pursuant to its bylaws, as well as initiate the corresponding procedures for the cancellation of the license before the Board of Examiners, according to the procedural means it establishes to submit and sustain the charges.
(h) To protect its members in the practice of their profession, and through the creation of pawnshops, insurance system and special funds or in any other way to help those who retire because of physical disability or old age and the heirs or beneficiaries of those who die.
(i) To exercise such incidental powers not in conflict with this chapter as may be necessary or advisable for the purposes of its establishment and operation.
(j) To receive and investigate written and sworn complaints in regard to any situations which may arise in the illegal practice of professions and any violations with respect to the same, and if any evidence to such effects exists, whether members of the College or not, to proceed before the authorities with jurisdiction to enforce compliance with laws pertaining to the practice of professions.
Nothing herein provided shall be construed as limiting or interfering with the power of the Board of Examiners of Draftsmen to initiate these proceedings on its own.
(k) To investigate non-members who are practicing the profession of draftsman in Puerto Rico in violation of the provisions of this chapter and of the regulations approved thereunder.
(l) To notify the results of the investigations it has performed with respect to persons practicing the profession of draftsmanship in violation of this chapter or of the regulations established thereunder to the Board of Examiners of Draftsmen, the Department of Justice of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and any other entity, or natural or juridical person it deems convenient, and request that such persons and entities conduct the appropriate actions and procedures they deem fit.
(m) On investigations, the College and the persons or committees upon which it delegates, are hereby authorized to take oaths and sworn statements, compel the appearance of witnesses and defendants and the presentation of documents, papers, files, and any other object necessary to be fully apprised of the complaints received.
Every summons requiring an appearance before the College or the person or committee authorized thereby, or upon whom it delegates, may be issued by the Chairperson of the College, the Chairperson of the entity or the committee or person designated or commissioned by the College to investigate the complaint. Said summons shall contain a requirement directed to the person summoned to appear on the designated day, hour, and place with the required documents and objects. The summons shall be served by a person of more than eighteen (18) years of age who is able to read and write. The sworn certification of the person in charge of serving the summons stating that he/she has served a copy thereof to the defendant or witness, and the date and place in which it was served, shall constitute proof of service of said summons.
When a person summoned pursuant to this subsection fails to appear or to produce the documents requested, or refuses to answer any question with respect to the investigation of a complaint, the College or the person or committee designated thereby may request a court order from the Court of First Instance of Puerto Rico, under penalty of contempt, requesting the appearance and statements of the person summoned and the production and delivery of the documents requested in the investigation. Once the request is submitted to the Court of First Instance, it shall issue a summons, without delay, to require and order the witness or the defendant to appear before the College of Draftsmen or any person or committee designated thereby, and to testify or produce the evidence or documents requested, or both. Any disobedience of the court order shall be punished as civil contempt.
Any person who, having testified under oath before the College of Draftsmen or any person or committee designated thereby, knowingly makes a false statement shall commit perjury.
These procedures shall be subject to the provisions of §§ 2101 et seq. of Title 3, known as the “Uniform Administrative Procedures Act of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico”.
(n) To resort to the courts of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to claim the rights and powers granted herein, including the obtainment of orders, sentences and injunctions, to require faithful and full compliance with the provisions of this chapter from natural and juridical persons, as well as to prohibit persons who are not duly licensed and certified from practicing the profession of draftsmen and from being hired by employers.
History —May 21, 1976, No. 54, p. 140, § 3; Dec. 12, 1995, No. 233, § 2; Sept. 22, 2004, No. 425, § 2.