2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THREE - Executive (§§ 1 — 9311) › Chapter 51B - Human Resources Administration System (§§ 1461 — 1468p) › Subchapter X - Appeals Commission of the Public Service Human Resources Administration System (§§ 1468 — 1468p) › § 1468h - Powers

The Commission shall have, among others, the following powers:
(1) To hold all the hearings and conduct all the investigations that in the opinion of the Commission are necessary and appropriate for the exercise of the powers conferred by this chapter; for such purposes, the Commission or its agent shall have access to any evidence from any person under investigation or against whom there has been a proceeding, and which refers to any matter under investigation by the Commission or in controversy.
(2) The Commission shall have the power to initiate investigations in any case as it deems necessary even if there has been no formal petition in that respect from any of the interested parties.
(3) In case of contempt or refusal to comply with a summons issued against a person, any part of the Court of First Instance within whose jurisdiction the person is, resides or conducts business, shall have jurisdiction to issue against said person an order to compel his/her appearance before the Commission or any of its agents, to present evidence or make a statement. Noncompliance of said order may be penalized as contempt of court.
(4) The Commission is hereby empowered to adopt an official seal and all its orders, communiqués, summons and decisions shall bear the presumption of regularity and when they are issued with the seal, shall be recognized to be official documents. The orders, summons and other documents of the Commission or its agent may be served personally, by certified mail, fax or leaving copies thereof at the main office or place of business of the person to be notified.
(5) No person may refuse to appear to testify or to produce any documental evidence that he/she is required, by claiming that the testimony or evidence required by the Commission could incriminate him/her or expose him/her to criminal prosecution. However, no person shall be prosecuted or be subject to any punishment or seizure whatsoever for reason of a transaction or matter in relation to which he/she is placed under the obligation to offer testimony or submit evidence after having claimed the privilege of not testifying against him/herself, except that said person may be prosecuted for perjury committed during his/her testimony before a Commission.
(6) Witnesses summoned to appear before the Commission or before any of its authorized agents who are public employees, shall be granted a judicial leave with pay for the duration of the summons. Those witnesses who are not public employees shall receive the same per diem and compensation for mileage that witnesses of the Courts of Justice receive.
(7) Departments, agencies, municipalities, public corporations and other subdivisions of the Government of Puerto Rico shall furnish to the Commission, upon its request, all records, documents and reports not privileged under the law that they have in their possession in relation to any matter in which the Commission is intervening.
(8) It is expressly provided that the Commissioners may not act as Examining Officers.
(9) The Commission may grant the remedies it deems appropriate and issue the orders that are necessary and convenient to comply with the purposes of this chapter. This includes, among others, provisional or permanent cease and desist orders; orders for the reinstatement of suspended or removed employees, with or without receiving the payment in arrears which was not earned and the concession of all the fringe benefits to which the employees would have been entitled during the period of suspension or removal; and orders imposing financial or procedural sanctions on agencies, officials or legal representatives for noncompliance or delay of procedures.
(10) The Commission shall interpret and adjudicate all cases or controversies which has been brought appropriately and which concerns its jurisdiction and the merit principle.
(11) The Commission may sanction any person who disturbs the order or engages in disorderly, disrespectful, or disgraceful conduct before the Commission in full or before any of its members or investigative or examining officers, when such a conduct tends to interrupt, delay or undermine procedures in any way, with a fine of not less than thirty dollars ($30) nor greater than three hundred dollars ($300).
(12) The Commission shall be empowered to grant compensation for damages and to impose administrative fines in all types of discrimination that are proven by the employees who resort to this forum, without impairment to the rights of public employees to resort to the judicial forum to claim damages when they do not claim the same before the Appeals Commission.
History —Aug. 3, 2004, No. 184, § 13.9; Feb. 17, 2006, No. 64, § 1, eff. 180 days after Feb. 17, 2006.