2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FOUR - Judiciary (§§ 1-3 — 2166) › PART I - Organization of the Court (§§ 1-3 — 251) › Chapter 17 - Judicial Retirement (§§ 231 — 246) › § 234 - Definitions

The words or phrases as used in this Act shall have the following meanings, except when the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
(1) Administrator.— Shall mean the Administrator of the Retirement System of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and its Instrumentalities.
(2) Fiscal year.— Shall mean the period beginning July 1 of any year and ending June 30 of the following year.
(3) Beneficiary.— Shall mean each and every person or persons so designated by a participant or pensioner in the last written order duly recognized and filed with the Administrator. In the case that no such designation has been made, or if the person so designated does not survive the participant or pensioner, his/her legal heirs shall be deemed to be the beneficiaries.
(4) Operative date of the System.— [Will be] July 1, 1954.
(5) Government.— Shall mean the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(6) Actuarial guidelines.— During the first five (5) years of operation of the system, shall mean the Combined Annuity and Mortality Tables for males, and thereafter, the tables or norms adopted by the Board of Trustees based on the system’s experience and in accordance with the recommendations of the actuary.
(7) Interest.— Shall mean two-and-one-half percent (2.5%) annually, compounded annually, or any other rate as may subsequently be prescribed by the Board based on the System’s experience.
(8) Judge.— Shall mean any person who holds a position as Justice of the Supreme Court, or Judge of the Court of First Instance or the District Court of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(9) Board.— Shall mean the Board of Trustees of the Retirement System of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and its Instrumentalities.
(10) Participant.— Shall mean any judge who is a member of this System, as specified in § 235 of this title.
(11) Pension.— Shall mean a series of monthly payments during the lifetime of the pensioner, payable at the end of each calendar month. The first pension payment shall be made for that part of the elapsed month until the end of the first month, and the last payment shall be made for the part of a month elapsed up to the death of the pensioner.
(12) Pensioner.— Shall mean any person who is receiving a pension from the System.
(13) Hybrid Program.— Shall mean the retirement program in which any employee who enrolls for the first time in the Judiciary Retirement System of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico after July 1, 2014, shall participate. The Hybrid Program is a combined plan of defined benefits and contributions. As to defined benefits, upon retirement, hybrid program participants shall be entitled to receive an annuity computed in accordance with the provisions of §§ 236c and 236d of this title. As to the defined contribution, upon retirement, these participants shall be entitled to receive an annuity in accordance with the provisions of §§ 242a and 242b of this title.
(14) Services.— Shall mean the services rendered starting on the first day that any person is appointed judge or enters the service for the first time at any agency, department or division of the Government of Puerto Rico, regardless of whether that date is prior to or after the effective date of this act and ending on date of separation from the service. All the intervening periods following a resignation, separation or expiration of any term by election or appointment during which a participant was not in government service, shall be excluded and no credit shall be given for them. No credit shall be given for any service rendered to the Government in a capacity other than judge unless:
(a) They have rendered services as a judge for eight (8) years, and
(b) the participant returns to the System the contributions refunded to him/her as of the effective date of this act by any other Retirement System under which he/she has rendered services, including any interest that said contributions may have accrued up to the date of the refund at the rate prescribed by said System, except that, to be eligible for a non-occupational disability pension exclusively, services rendered to the Government in a capacity other than as a judge shall be credited at any time, subject to the provisions of this subsection. Provided, That the contribution established in § 242 of this title shall increase by one fourth of one percent (0.25%) for participants who have enrolled for the first time in the System on or before June 30, 2014, in order to cover the cost of said benefit on the effective date of this act. The services rendered during any fraction of a month shall be considered as a whole month of service; however, no more than one month of service shall be credited for all the services rendered during any calendar month.
For any new participant who enrolls in the Judiciary Retirement System of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico after July 1, 2014 and is a Hybrid Program participant, it shall mean the services rendered as of the first day in which a person is appointed for the first time as a Judge of the General Court of Justice. For new System participants, services rendered to the Government in any capacity other than as a judge shall not be credited.
(15) System.— Shall mean the Judiciary Retirement System of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(16) Salary.— Shall mean the annual compensation received by a judge for his/her services as such.
History —Oct. 19, 1954, No. 12, p. 152, § 2; June 26, 1957, No. 103, p. 483; June 15, 1962, No. 48, p. 108; May 31, 1972, No. 75, p. 160, § 1; Dec. 8, 1989, No. 21, p. 584; Dec. 24, 2013, No. 162, § 1.