2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE EIGHT - Public Welfare and Charitable Institutions (§§ 1 — 1422) › Chapter 18 - Bill of Rights for Elderly Persons (§§ 341 — 347) › § 343 - Rights of elderly persons—Generally

I. General rights.— All elderly persons shall be entitled to:
(a) Have the effectiveness of their rights, benefits, responsibilities and privileges established by the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and of the United States of America, as well as laws and regulations of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and of the United States of America, fully guaranteed.
(b) Be free from all interference, coercion, discrimination or reprisal to or when exercising their civil rights.
(c) Live in an environment of tranquillity, respect and dignity that shall satisfy their basic housing, food, health and financial needs with special attention to their physical, mental, social, spiritual and emotional state.
(d) To be free from pressure, coercion, and manipulation from relatives, nonrelatives, private businesses or the State, with the intent of exploiting them financially or of impairing their capability and their right to make decisions for themselves.
(e) Receive preventive and clinical medical care and rehabilitation for the protection of their health and general welfare.
(f) Engage in a profession, occupation or job adjusted to the extent of their capabilities and knowledge without concern for their age.
(g) Obtain a job without being discriminated against because of their age.
(h) Participate in workshops and receive counseling and professional and technical help that shall allow them to develop their potential.
(i) Be heard, considered and consulted in all matters that affect them, and in issues of public interest without restrictions, interferences, coercion, discrimination or reprisals.
(j) Choose with which family member or members they wish to live, or the place where they would like to live, within a loving, understanding and peaceful environment.
(k) Enjoy and have access to recreational, sports and cultural service programs in the community, unless a medical determination sustained by a medical record establishes that it affects his/her health.
(l) Have effective access to public services and benefits in housing, social welfare, health, nutrition, transportation and employment.
(m) Enjoy an environment of peace and quiet.
(n) Receive protection and physical and social security against physical and emotional abuse or psychological pressure by any person.
(o) Act, together with other members of their group, in the search of solutions to their injuries and problems.
(p) Not be subjected to involuntary restraint in a hospital, substitute or residential home, unless otherwise provided by a medical or legal order, or that it is necessary due to a state of emergency to avoid harm to self or to others.
(q) Associate, communicate and meet in private with other persons, unless it violates other persons’ rights.
(r) Receive their correspondence unopened, unless otherwise authorized in writing by him/her or his/her physician.
(s) Enjoy confidentiality of the information contained in his/her medical records, which shall not be divulged without his/her written consent.
(t) Inspect all medical records under the custody of persons who render medical services or any other kind.
(u) Go before the Unit to Investigate and Prosecute Civil Rights Violations of the Department of Justice or any Court of First Instance of the judicial district where he/she resides, in order to claim any right or benefit established by law, to request the suspension of any action which contravenes this chapter, or to request a restraining order for being the victim of abuse or of any conduct which constitutes a crime as typified in the Penal Code of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or in any other special law.
II. Rights granted through special legislation.— All elderly persons shall be entitled to:
(a) Receive any kind of educational, informational and cultural material produced by the Department of Education through the program created to offer educational, informational and cultural services, to be distributed free of charge to entities, organizations and centers that group the elderly, as provided in §§ 51–55 of Title 18.
(b) Receive training and retraining in accordance with the provisions of the Employment Opportunities Development Fund created by virtue of §§ 701 et seq. of Title 29, known as the “Puerto Rico Employment Security Act”.
(c) Receive a subsidy in the monthly rental fee of his/her house and in the interests on loans granted for improvements in order to facilitate mobility and enjoyment of the home, in accordance with and pursuant to §§ 1491 et seq. of Title 17, known as the “Housing Rental and Improvement Subsidy Program for Low-Income Elderly Persons”.
(d) To participate in all activities carried out during the Day of Homage to Elderly Persons, to be observed on April 30 of each year, pursuant to the provisions set forth in § 5003 of Title 1.
(e) Receive [a] copy of his/her birth and marriage certificates and verifications free of charge, pursuant to the provisions of § 1251 of Title 24.
(f) Receive half-price admission (persons over sixty (60) years of age) and free admission (persons over seventy-five (75) years of age), for those duly identified with a card or any other proof of age issued by the government, to every performance and artistic or sports activity offered by any municipality, agency, department, dependency, political subdivision facility and any other instrumentality of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and to any public transportation service offered by said municipalities or public agencies or instrumentalities, pursuant to §§ 531–533 of Title 1.
(g) Receive tax exemption on income from the sale or exchange of his/her main home, pursuant to the provisions of Section 1022 of Act No. 120 of October 31, 1994, known as the “1994 Internal Revenue Code of Puerto Rico”.
(h) Receive equal employment conditions in relation to work salary, wages, pay or remuneration, terms, ranks, conditions and privileges, or being deprived of employment opportunities or affected his/her status as employment, as provided by §§ 146 et seq. of Title 29.
(i) Receive from his/her spouse, ascendants, descendants in the nearest degree or siblings food, housing, clothing and medical assistance, as provided in §§ 561 et seq. of Title 31.
(j) File a judicial claim to receive support, in accordance with the provisions of §§ 561 et seq. of Title 31 and Section 158 of the Puerto Rico Penal Code, Act No. 112 of July 22, 1974.
(k) Bring a judicial claim against his/her spouse or descendant, in the nearest degree, or against any person in charge of his/her care, who has left him/her in any place with the intention of abandoning him/her, in accordance with the provisions of §§ 561 et seq. of Title 31 and Section 158 of the Puerto Rico Penal Code, Act No. 112 of July 22, 1974.
(l) File a judicial claim against any person who has used force or violence against him/her, in accordance with the provisions of §§ 561 et seq. of Title 31.
(m) Receive a funeral services plan if the elderly person is indigent, does not have relatives or they do not have the resources with which to pay for it, as provided in §§ 211 et seq. of Title 3, known as the “Organic Act of the Department of the Family”.
(n) Serve the Government of Puerto Rico in any of its public agencies, instrumentalities or corporations, including municipalities, without detriment to his/her retirement pension, be it for age or years of service, in any of the pension or retirement systems of the Government of Puerto Rico, or any of its agencies and instrumentalities, or any retirement or pension fund created by virtue of the laws of Puerto Rico, subject to the regulations established in §§ 826 and 827 of Title 3 and §§ 827a–827b of Title 3.
(o) [Repealed. Act Dec. 17, 2003, No. 305, § 2, eff. Dec. 17, 2003.]
History —July 12, 1986, No. 121, p. 389, § 3; Aug. 12, 1995, No. 189, § 1; Dec. 26, 1997, No. 192, § 2; Sept. 2, 2000, No. 331, § 1; Dec. 17, 2003, No. 305, § 2; Sept. 22, 2004, No. 417, § 1; Aug. 5, 2009, No. 58, § 4.