2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 99 - Penal Provisions (§§ 1301 — 1302) › § 1301 - Penalties

Every person who, acting by himself or as an officer, agent or employee of another person, or of a corporation or partnership:
(a) Buries, cremates or otherwise finally disposes of the corpse of a human being, or who permits any of said acts to be done, or who removes said corpse from the municipality or district of registry in which the death occurred, or in which the corpse was found, without the authorization of a burial, or a removal and burial permit issued by the keeper of the Registry of the district in which the death occurred or the corpse was found; or who
(b) refuses or fails to give any information in his possession correctly, or who furnishes any false information in connection with any certificate or record required by this part; or who
(c) being obliged under the provisions of this part to present within a specific period a birth, marriage or death certificate to be registered in the local register’s office, fails to do so, or who, upon being required to remit said certificate to the person in charge of registering it, fails or refuses to comply with such duty according to the provisions hereof; or who
(d) being a registrar, alternate registrar or deputy registrar of any district, abandons, or fails or refuses to comply with his duties according to the provisions of this part and the instructions and orders of the Secretary of Health, or who
(e) being a person authorized by law to celebrate the rites of matrimony, should do so without the requirement of the marriage license, or fails or refuses to send to the local registrar said license and certificate according to the provisions of this part, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine that shall not exceed five hundred dollars ($500) or imprisonment for a term that shall not exceed six (6) months, or both penalties, in the discretion of the court; likewise, every person who, acting by himself or as an officer, agent or employee of another person, or of a corporation or partnership, intentionally:
(1) Alters or falsifies any birth, marriage or death certificate, or any other of the documents stated herein, except as specified in this part; or
(2) requests or obtains any of said documents for illegal and/or fraudulent use, or knowing that it will be used in such manner inside or outside of Puerto Rico, or
(3) illegally or fraudulently uses, transfers, submits, or in any other way disposes of any of said certificates for illegal purposes, or who knowingly and maliciously furnishes false information to obtain a fraudulent registration, or to introduce false facts in said registration, shall be guilty of a felony, and upon conviction, shall be punished by imprisonment not exceeding five (5) years.
The Secretary of Health is hereby charged with giving due publicity to this provision, through the press or by any other means which he may deem proper for general knowledge; Provided, That when the person responsible for non-compliance with the provisions of § 1131 of this title appears before the keeper of the Registry for the purpose of registering a birth at any time after the ten (10) days prescribed by this part for the registration of births, said registration may be effected without further sanction, upon the cancellation of a one dollar internal revenue stamp. Otherwise, every person who fails to comply with the provisions of this part in connection with the registration of births, shall be prosecuted in accordance with the provisions contained herein, and upon conviction, shall be punished according to the above-stated penalties.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, § 42; June 11, 1954, No. 58, p. 316; Feb. 23, 1978, No. 1, p. 3, § 1.