2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-EIGHT - Public Lands (§§ 1 — 737) › PART I - Lands Generally; Mines (§§ 1 — 226) › Chapter 7 - Mines (§§ 110 — 125-180) › § 120 - Penal provisions

(a) Any person who wilfully bears false witness under oath or affirmation at any hearing, investigation or proceeding before the Mining Commission or any member or members or officers thereof, or before any notary public or other person authorized to take such testimony, or who disregards, circumvents, impedes, or hinders the Commission or any of its authorized officers or employees in the performance of the duties thereof under this chapter, or who interferes with the holding of a hearing carried out pursuant to this chapter, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by imprisonment in jail for a term of not more than two (2) years, or by both penalties in the discretion of the court.
(b) If any natural or [juridical] person authorized to prospect or exploit commercial minerals in Puerto Rico wilfully violates either personally or through the agent or representative thereof, any of the provisions of this chapter, or any of the orders or regulations of the Mining Commission; or carries out any act herein prohibited; or disregards, evades, neglects, or refuses to perform any duty which such natural or [juridical] person is in duty bound to fulfill under this chapter or under the orders or regulations of the Mining Commission; or disregards, evades, neglects or refuses to obey, observe and comply with any provision, requirement, finding, or order of the Commission; or wilfully neglects to comply with any judgment entered or any order or decree issued by the Court of First Instance of Puerto Rico under § 119 of this title, the said person, whether natural or [juridical], shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by imprisonment in jail for a term of not more than two (2) years, or by both penalties in the discretion of the court.
The Commission, upon previous notice and hearing, may impose administrative fines not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) each, or to suspend temporarily or cancel the prospecting permit of the lease to any natural or [juridical] person to whom the Commission has granted a prospecting permit or a lease and who knowingly violates any of the provisions of this chapter, orders or regulations of the Commission or the terms and conditions of the prospecting permit or of the lease.
(c) Each day of continued violation of any provision, requirement, finding, order or regulation of the Commission or of any of the provisions of this chapter, or of any final decree issued by the Court of First Instance of Puerto Rico, under the provisions of § 119 of this title, shall constitute a separate and distinct violation.
(d) Any officer, agent, or employee of any natural or [juridical] person engaged in Puerto Rico in prospecting or in the exploitation of mines, who knowingly fails, omits, neglects, or refuses to obey, observe, and comply with any provision of this chapter or any final order, directive, requirement or regulation of the Commission, or any final order or decree of the Court of First Instance of Puerto Rico, issued under the provisions of § 119 of this title, or who knowingly attempts, abets, or permits any such violation, omission, failure, negligence or refusal, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500) or by imprisonment in jail for a term of not more than twelve (12) months, or by both penalties in the discretion of the court; and shall, for the second and subsequent violations, be punished by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than two thousand dollars ($2,000), or by imprisonment in jail for a term of not less than three (3) months nor more than eighteen (18) months, or by both penalties in the discretion of the court.
(e) The Court of First Instance of Puerto Rico shall have original jurisdiction to take cognizance of the offenses and violations defined and prescribed in this chapter.
(f) All fines or penalties imposed for violation of this chapter or of the regulations or orders of the Commission shall be covered into the general fund of the Treasury of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
History —Aug. 18, 1933, No. 9, p. 32, § 9; Oct. 6, 1954, No. 6, p. 48, § 1; June 27, 1969, No. 96, p. 257, § 7.