2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-THREE - Public Planning and Development (§§ 1 — 11273) › PART IV - Navigation and Marine Trade (§§ 2101 — 3223) › Chapter 105 - Maritime Shipping Authority (§§ 3051 — 3077) › § 3054a - Compensation in causes of action against individual members

The individual members of the Governing Board of the Authority shall not bear civil or administrative monetary claim liability arising from any act or omission on their part, occurring as of the date of approval of this chapter, provided said acts or omissions have been incurred in good faith, and that no conduct which constitutes a crime or gross negligence, or which is contrary to a different state of law previously established by a final and firm sentence, has determined such actions or omissions.
In case a civil cause of action or an administrative monetary claim is prosecuted against any of the individual members of the Governing Board of the Authority as a result of any act or omission incurred by them after the approval of this section, said individual members may request to be represented and compensated by the Commonwealth pursuant to the provisions of this section, for all attorney’s fees and for any payment imposed on them by the sentence.
The members of the Board may choose to be represented by counsel in the private practice recommended by them, with the prior authorization of the Secretary of Justice, or to be represented by the Department of Justice directly. If individual members are represented by attorneys in the private practice, the Commonwealth shall defray the reasonable costs of said legal representation. The Commonwealth may recover expenses, costs and attorney’s fees incurred and the amounts thus recouped shall be covered into the General Fund of the Commonwealth.
When two (2) or more individual members are sued or subject to an administrative monetary claim in a same case, have interests that may be conflictive, the Secretary of Justice may authorize that any of them, or all of them, be represented by attorneys in the private practice, to be paid by the Commonwealth, pursuant to the provisions of this section.
Individual members thus sued shall have the obligation to cooperate in good faith with the Secretary of Justice and with the attorneys designated or authorized by him/her, in the investigation of the facts alleged in the lawsuit or administrative claim and during all further proceedings as well. Any violation of this duty by any of the individual members shall empower the Secretary of Justice to deny the compensation and legal representation provided in this section.
The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico guarantees the payment of any compensation to be granted pursuant to this section. If at any given time the revenues, income, or any other available funds of the Authority do not suffice for the payment of said indemnization, or should said funds not exist due to the sale, liquidation, or any other disposition of the Authority, the Secretary of the Treasury shall withdraw those sums needed to cover deficiencies in the amount required to pay said compensation from any available funds in the Treasury of Puerto Rico, and he/she shall give orders that the sums thus withdrawn be used for such purposes.
This section shall continue in effect even after the sale or liquidation of the Maritime Shipping Authority.
History —June 10, 1974, No. 62, Part 1, p. 239, added as § 4A July 29, 1993, No. 35, § 1; renumbered as § 4 on Sept. 27, 1994, No. 112, § 11.