reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART III - Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics (§§ 711 — 1031d) › Chapter 67 - Poisons (§§ 1001 — 1006) › § 1002 - Poisonous substances—Record of sales

Before the seller delivers any poisonous substance to the purchaser, he shall make an entry in a book that he shall keep expressly for that purpose, in which he shall note the date of the sale, the name and residence of the purchaser, the name and amount of the poison sold, and the purpose or object for which it was purchased.
This book shall have pages perfectly arranged and numbered correlatively. If any error in writing is to be corrected therein, said correction shall not be made by erasing or scratching out what is written, but by crossing it out with red ink and writing, immediately beside it, the correct note or phrase. The writing shall be done by hand and in ink, or with an indelible pencil; in no case shall a crayon, a lead pencil, or a pencil of any other kind be used. The notations shall be made in clear and legible writing.
The book shall be kept for two (2) years after the last entry is made; and it shall be kept in a safe and accessible place so that it may be inspected at any time by the proper authorities.
History —May 5, 1939, No. 115, p. 600, § 2, eff. 90 days after May 5, 1939.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART III - Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics (§§ 711 — 1031d) › Chapter 67 - Poisons (§§ 1001 — 1006) › § 1003 - Poisonous substances—Exceptions to record

It shall not be necessary to make any entry whatever in the record book [that is mentioned in § 1002 of this title] when a pharmacist fills prescriptions for physicians, dentists, and veterinarians who are duly admitted to practice their professions in Puerto Rico.
History —May 5, 1939, No. 115, p. 600, § 3, eff. 90 days after May 5, 1939.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART III - Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics (§§ 711 — 1031d) › Chapter 67 - Poisons (§§ 1001 — 1006) › § 1004 - Poisonous substances—Other exceptions

Nothing stated in this chapter shall apply to establishments devoted exclusively to selling at wholesale and in the original containers of the manufacturer; or to patent or proprietary medicine factories; or to stores or commercial houses which are not strictly drugstores or pharmacies but which dispatch poisonous substances for industrial or agricultural purposes, in the manufacturer’s original containers, duly sealed and labeled; or to practicing physicians, surgeons, dentists, and veterinarians, when they furnish drugs to their patients in the manner required by the practice of their respective professions.
History —May 5, 1939, No. 115, p. 600, § 4, eff. 90 days after May 5, 1939.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART III - Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics (§§ 711 — 1031d) › Chapter 67 - Poisons (§§ 1001 — 1006) › § 1005 - Poisonous substances—Regulations

The Secretary of Health is hereby authorized to prescribe rules for enforcing this chapter, to define poisons, and to classify them in accordance with local requirements and conditions.
History —May 5, 1939, No. 115, p. 600, § 5, eff. 90 days after May 5, 1939.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART III - Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics (§§ 711 — 1031d) › Chapter 67 - Poisons (§§ 1001 — 1006) › § 1006 - Poisonous substances—Penalties

Any person violating this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and for the first violation he shall be punished by a fine of not less than ten dollars ($10) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100); and for subsequent violations he shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25) nor more than two hundred dollars ($200).
History —May 5, 1939, No. 115, p. 600, § 6, eff. 90 days after May 5, 1939.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART III - Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics (§§ 711 — 1031d) › Chapter 69 - Plastic Cement and Lacquer Thinner (§§ 1021 — 1024) › § 1021 - Sale of plastic cement prohibited

No person shall sell, offer for sale, deliver or give away to another person, any glue, cement or paste, known as plastic cement, or any other similar substance, either separately or as part of a set used for the construction of model airplanes, model boats, model automobiles, model trains or other similar models, if such glue, cement, paste or plastic cement has not been certified by the Department of Health as being of the type of glue, paste or plastic cement containing a substance which makes such glue, paste or plastic cement malodorous, or causes such glue, paste or plastic cement to induce sneezing, vomiting or both if inhaled.
History —June 25, 1965, No. 84, p. 196, § 1; June 14, 1966, No. 40, p. 170, § 1; May 22, 1973, No. 28, p. 90, § 1, eff. 90 days after May 22, 1973.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART III - Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics (§§ 711 — 1031d) › Chapter 69 - Plastic Cement and Lacquer Thinner (§§ 1021 — 1024) › § 1021a - Lacquer thinner

The Administrator of the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services is hereby empowered to regulate the sale and/or distribution of the mixture of toluence and acetone, known commercially as “lacquer thinner.”
History —June 25, 1965, No. 84, p. 196, added as § 1-A on May 27, 1976, No. 64, p. 184.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART III - Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics (§§ 711 — 1031d) › Chapter 69 - Plastic Cement and Lacquer Thinner (§§ 1021 — 1024) › § 1024 - Penal clause

Any violation of this chapter shall be punished by a minimum fine of fifty dollars ($50) and a maximum fine of five hundred dollars ($500), but subsequent violations shall be punished by a minimum fine of two hundred dollars ($200) and a maximum fine of one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by confinement in jail for thirty (30) days, or both, in the discretion of the court.
History —June 25, 1965, No. 84, p. 196, § 4; June 14, 1966, No. 40, p. 170, § 1; renumbered as § 2 on May 22, 1973, No. 28, p. 90, § 3, eff. 90 days after May 22, 1973.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART III - Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics (§§ 711 — 1031d) › Chapter 70 - Alcohol Vaporizing Device (§§ 1025 — 1027) › § 1025 - Short title

This chapter shall be known as the “Act to Prohibit the Sale, Distribution and Use of Alcohol Vaporizing Devices in public places”.
History —Dec. 22, 2006, No. 278, § 1.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART III - Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics (§§ 711 — 1031d) › Chapter 70 - Alcohol Vaporizing Device (§§ 1025 — 1027) › § 1026 - Definition

For purposes of this chapter, the term “alcohol vaporizing device” means any device, machine or process that mixes spirit drinks, liquor, alcohol, or any derivative thereof with oxygen or other gas with the intention of producing a vaporized product for human consumption by means of inhalation.
History —Dec. 22, 2006, No. 278, § 2.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART III - Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics (§§ 711 — 1031d) › Chapter 70 - Alcohol Vaporizing Device (§§ 1025 — 1027) › § 1027 - Prohibition

The use of alcohol vaporizing equipment by any person in a public place engage in the sale of alcoholic beverages is hereby prohibited. For the purposes of this chapter, the owner of the business in which the use of alcohol vaporizing equipment is allowed and the person using the same shall be held responsible. A person who violates the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished with a fixed term of six (6) months of imprisonment, and a fine of five thousand dollars ($5,000).
History —Dec. 22, 2006, No. 278, § 3.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART III - Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics (§§ 711 — 1031d) › Chapter 71 - Lead Poisoning Prevention Act (§§ 1031 — 1031d) › § 1031 - Definitions

For purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meaning set forth below:
(a) Information material.— Means any brochure, pamphlet, videotape, or handout that details the importance of preventing lead poisoning.
(b) Media.— Means any mechanism that can be used for the dissemination of advertisements including, but not limited to, radio, television, video, daily, weekly, or monthly newspapers, magazines, brochures, posters, and others.
(c) Pediatrician.— Means the health professional recognized to assess the growth and development of all infants, children, and adolescents, under appropriate practices, as defined by the American Academy of Pediatrics and that is authorized by the applicable laws and regulations to practice medicine in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
History —Mar. 30, 2011, No. 39, § 2.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART III - Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics (§§ 711 — 1031d) › Chapter 71 - Lead Poisoning Prevention Act (§§ 1031 — 1031d) › § 1031a - Duties and responsibilities of the Department of Health

The duties and responsibilities of the Department of Health include, but are not limited to, the following:
(a) Conduct an annual prevention campaign through the media in order to inform and educate the people about the importance of knowing risk factors, signs, and symptoms associated with lead poisoning.
(b) Draft information material stating in detail the importance of regularly testing for lead poisoning children fount to be at risk or that may have been exposed to lead, in accordance with standards of care and the Department of Health, and make it available to pediatricians’ offices within ninety (90) days after the effective date of this act. Such information material shall be available in every regional office of the Department of Health.
(c) The educational media campaign and the information material shall contain information to educate the people about the steps to be taken following confirmation of blood lead level.
(d) Keep thorough records including data and statistics showing the development of the educational campaign.
History —Mar. 30, 2011, No. 39, § 3.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART III - Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics (§§ 711 — 1031d) › Chapter 71 - Lead Poisoning Prevention Act (§§ 1031 — 1031d) › § 1031b - Duties and responsibilities of pediatricians

The duties and responsibilities of every pediatrician’s office include, but are not limited to, the following:
(a) Handing out, free of charge, information material about the importance of learning about risk factors, signs, and symptoms associated with lead poisoning provided by the Department of Health in accordance with this chapter.
(b) Any institution required to do so under this chapter, shall keep a register of the signatures of all the recipients of the information material, in which they shall attest to such fact and their signatures.
(c) Start distributing information materials within one hundred twenty (120) days after the approval of this act. Likewise, begin keeping the record referred to in subsection (a) of this section.
(d) Pediatricians may make recommendations on the time and frequency a minor should be tested in order to determine the lead levels in the blood, as provided by the standards of care and the Health Department, considering the following, without it being understood as a limitation:
(1) If the child lives in a home built before 1978, where paint is cracked or peeling.
(2) If the child lives in a home built before 1978, which has been or is being renovated.
(3) If the parent of the child is exposed to lead at his/her workplace or while practicing a hobby.
History —Mar. 30, 2011, No. 39, § 4.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART III - Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics (§§ 711 — 1031d) › Chapter 71 - Lead Poisoning Prevention Act (§§ 1031 — 1031d) › § 1031c - Rulemaking authority

The Department of Health is hereby authorized to adopt regulations as are necessary and convenient to achieve the purposes of this chapter.
History —Mar. 30, 2011, No. 39, § 5.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART III - Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics (§§ 711 — 1031d) › Chapter 71 - Lead Poisoning Prevention Act (§§ 1031 — 1031d) › § 1031d - Penalties

Any violation of the provisions of this chapter shall constitute an administrative offense subject to a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500).
History —Mar. 30, 2011, No. 39, § 6.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 81 - General Provisions (§§ 1041 — 1042) › § 1041 - Short title

This part shall be known as the “Vital Statistics Registry Act of Puerto Rico”.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, § 1, eff. 90 days after Apr. 22, 1931.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 81 - General Provisions (§§ 1041 — 1042) › § 1042 - Definitions

When used in this part:
(1) Vital Statistics Registry. — Shall mean the General Registry of Vital Statistics of Puerto Rico established in the Department of Health of Puerto Rico, which shall be charged with the registry, compilation, custody, conservation, amendment and certification of vital records; the compiling of other reports required by this part; other related activities, including the tallying, analysis, and publication of vital statistics.
(2) Local Registry. — Shall mean the Registry of Vital Statistics established in any municipality of Puerto Rico.
(3) Local Registrar. — Shall mean the Registrar of Vital Statistics in any municipality of Puerto Rico.
(4) Keeper of the Registry. — Shall mean the Registrar of Vital Statistics in any municipality of Puerto Rico.
(5) Alternate Registrar. — Shall mean the Alternate Registrar of Vital Statistics in any municipality of Puerto Rico.
(6) Deputy Registrar. — Shall mean the Deputy Registrar of Vital Statistics in any section of a municipal district.
(7) Department. — Shall refer to the Department of Health of Puerto Rico.
(8) Secretary. — Shall refer to the Secretary of Health of Puerto Rico.
(9) Vital statistics. — Shall mean the information derived from the certificates and reports of births, deaths, marriages, divorces, dissolutions or annulments of marriages, and related reports.
(10) Vital record. — Shall mean certificates or reports of births, deaths, marriages, divorces, dissolutions or annulment of marriages, and records related to them.
(11) Registration. — Shall mean the acceptance by the Vital Statistics Registrar of vital records provided in this part and their incorporation in his official files.
(12) Interested party. — Shall mean the registered person if age eighteen (18) or older, or the father, mother, legal representative, legal custodian or guardian, or heirs of the registered person. It shall also mean any minor who is, in turn, the parent of a minor, for whom the issue of certificates pertaining to his/her person or his/her child is authorized. “Interested party” shall also be any entity so designated by a court order.
(13) Electronic or digital transcripts and/or certifications. — The reproductions or copies of birth, death, and marriage certificates or reports recorded in Puerto Rico at the Vital Statistics Registry of Puerto Rico, which shall have the same legal value or effect as the certified copies of such certificates or reports as the Secretary of Health may issue pursuant to § 1237 of this title.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, § 2; Feb. 23, 1978, No. 1, p. 3, § 1; Dec. 22, 2009, No. 191, § 7, eff. Jan. 1, 2010.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 83 - General and Local Registries (§§ 1071 — 1074) › § 1071 - General Registry; enforcement; regulations

The General Registry of Vital Statistics of Puerto Rico is hereby created, to be established in the Division of Demographic Registry and Vital Statistics of the Department of Health of Puerto Rico. Said Department shall be in charge of all matters connected with the registration of the births, marriages and deaths which may occur or take place in Puerto Rico; shall keep a registry of all divorces granted in Puerto Rico; shall prepare the instructions, blanks, printed matter and books necessary to obtain and keep said records and shall see to it that the same are registered in each primary registry district as the same are constituted by this part and in the Division of Demographic Registry and Vital Statistics of the Department of Health. The Secretary of Health shall see to it that this part be uniformly enforced and applied throughout the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, including the adjacent islands of Culebra and Vieques; shall recommend from time to time such additional legislation as may be necessary to that end and shall issue such rules and regulations, not in conflict with the provisions of this part, as may be necessary to complement the provisions hereof. The said rules and regulations, after approval and promulgated by the Governor of Puerto Rico, shall have the force of law.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, § 3; May 25, 1961, No. 19, p. 49, § 1.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 83 - General and Local Registries (§§ 1071 — 1074) › § 1071a - Regulations; fees

The Secretary of Health is hereby authorized to establish through regulations to such effect, the fees to be paid for any certificate or document issued or service rendered by the Civil Registry of Puerto Rico, its subregistries or subordinate registries. Provided, That the amounts to be paid shall never be greater than the cost of issuing the certificate or document, or of the services offered. When multiple copies of a single certificate or document are requested, a discount shall be offered for the additional copies, in order to show that the cost of producing said additional copies is less than the cost of producing the first copy.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, added as § 3A on Aug. 9, 1998, No. 220, § 1.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 83 - General and Local Registries (§§ 1071 — 1074) › § 1072 - Registry districts; compensation for keepers of registry

Each municipality of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or the Commonwealth Capital, shall constitute a primary registry district, but the Secretary of Health may, if he deems it necessary in order to facilitate registration, divide any municipality or the Capital into two (2) or more districts, and may likewise establish registry districts in any municipal or Commonwealth hospital, charity institution or penal institution of Puerto Rico, for the registration of births and deaths occurring therein, or for the sole purpose of issuing burial permits or removal-and-burial permits, as the case may be, in the case of persons deceased in the vital statistics registry district to which such hospital or institution belongs, at hours when the local vital statistics office is not open to service. In these cases, the director, superintendent or administrator of such hospital or institution, or his authorized representative, shall have charge of the registry so established. The compensation of and the expenses incurred by the registrars in each district shall be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury of Puerto Rico to each registrar upon certification from the Secretary of Health.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, § 4; Apr. 30, 1952, No. 145, p. 304, § 1; Apr. 28, 1954, No. 24, p. 152.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 83 - General and Local Registries (§§ 1071 — 1074) › § 1074 - Correction of defects and control of registry by Secretary of Health

In case that at any time the registration in any district under the direction of a keeper of a register is defective, the Secretary of Health shall notify said officer of such defects which shall be corrected within ten (10) days after such notice, and in case the same are not so corrected, the Secretary of Health shall take charge of the office and of all the records therein and shall enforce the provisions of this part until he succeeds in having a complete and satisfactory registration of births, marriages and deaths in said district; and said control shall continue until the keeper of the register can show that he is qualified to continue keeping said register in accordance with the provisions of this part and of the rules and regulations of the Secretary of Health. The expenses incurred by the Secretary of Health or by his authorized representative while in charge of said registry shall be for account of the respective municipality, and said expenses shall constitute a lien on the income of such municipality.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, § 6, eff. 90 days after Apr. 22, 1931.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 85 - Deaths (§§ 1101 — 1111) › § 1102 - Record of stillborn children

The Department of Health shall prepare a special certificate for the registration of stillborn children, who shall be recorded in a special book and the certificates filed separately in the Department of Health in the usual form. Instead of the name of the child the certificate shall bear the word “stillborn”; Provided, That no stillborn certificates shall be required in cases of fetuses with less than five months of intrauterine gestation. The medical certificate as to the cause of the death shall be signed by the attending physician, if any, and the cause of the death shall be stated as “stillborn”. The cause of premature birth, when there is one, shall likewise be stated, expressing in months the period of intrauterine gestation if possible to determine it, and a burial permit shall be required in the usual form. Cases attended by midwives shall be considered as deaths occurred without medical attendance.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, § 8, eff. 90 days after Apr. 22, 1931.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 85 - Deaths (§§ 1101 — 1111) › § 1104 - Medical certificate; information required

The medical certificate shall be drafted and signed by the physician who attended the decedent for the last time and shall specify the duration of such attendance, the date on which the physician saw him alive for the last time and the date and hour of the death, and shall also specify the cause of the death in such a manner as will show the course of the sickness or the series of causes that produced the death, stating firstly the sickness which was the direct cause of death and the secondary cause or causes, if any, that contributed thereto, and the duration of each of them. Indefinite terms expressing only symptoms of illness or conditions resulting therefrom shall not be considered sufficient for the issuance of a burial permit or a removal-and-burial permit, and any certificate containing such terms, according to such rules as the Secretary of Health shall make for the purpose, shall be returned to the physician or person signing such certificate, for its correction or amplification. Causes of death which are the result of sickness or violence shall be carefully described and, in case of violent death, the cause of the injury and the certainty or probability that the death was due to accident, suicide, or homicide, shall be stated. As regards deaths occurring in hospitals or other institutions, or among non-residents, the physician shall, whenever possible, furnish the information required in clause 26, stating where, in his opinion, the illness was contracted.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, § 10; Apr. 28, 1954, No. 24, p. 152.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 85 - Deaths (§§ 1101 — 1111) › § 1105 - Order of certification of deaths

Physicians in the legal exercise of their profession in Puerto Rico are obliged to certify deaths in the following order:
(1) The physician who attended the deceased in his last sickness.
(2) The corresponding physician of municipal-charities service, if there has not been an attending physician.
(3) In default of both, the medical-health officer of the municipality, if there is one.
When there has not been an attending physician, and the municipality is without the services of a charity physician, and there is no medical-health officer in the municipality, said certificate of death may be issued by any physician called for the purpose by any person in charge of reporting the death, in accordance with § 1101 of this title, or by the keeper of the register. In the latter case, the municipality shall be obliged to pay fees to the physician at the rate of two dollars for each certificate; Provided, That the provisions of this section shall likewise be applicable in the cases of stillborn children.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, § 11, eff. 90 days after Apr. 22, 1931.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 85 - Deaths (§§ 1101 — 1111) › § 1106 - Registration of death without medical certificate

In case it is impossible to obtain a physician to authorize the medical certificate, the same may be substituted by the examination of the corpse made by the keeper of the register in the presence of the person presenting the death certificate, and said officer shall set forth in a special blank to be prepared for the purpose, the reasons for the registration of the death without the medical certificate, and he shall, moreover, fill out a questionnaire on a form to be furnished by the Secretary of Health; Provided, That if the physician called upon to issue the certificate or the keeper of the register shall have reason to suspect that the death may have been due to a criminal act or to negligence, he shall report the case to the proper prosecuting attorney for proper investigation and certification. The certificates issued by physicians by virtue of the provisions of subsections (2) and (3) of § 1105 of this title, and, in general, all such certificates as are issued by physicians without their having attended the deceased, shall set forth said fact, and the cause of death shall be established by a retrospective diagnosis based on the information received.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, § 12, eff. 90 days after Apr. 22, 1931.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 85 - Deaths (§§ 1101 — 1111) › § 1107 - Death certificate where crime suspected

In case of death due to an unknown cause, when there is suspicion or indication of a crime, the prosecuting attorney or other officer authorized to investigate the death, shall issue the death certificate required for the issuance of a burial permit, setting forth in said certificate the name of the disease causing death or, if death was due to an external cause, the arm, instrument or object causing it and the manner in which death was produced, as well as the certainty or probability of said death having been caused by an accident, suicide or homicide, and, in any case, he shall furnish such information as may be requested or required by the Secretary of Health for the purposes of properly classifying said death in accordance with the investigation made and the experts’ reports.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, § 13, eff. 90 days after Apr. 22, 1931.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 85 - Deaths (§§ 1101 — 1111) › § 1108 - Delivery of death certificate to keeper of registry

A person’s death certificate, to which § 1101 of this title refers, shall be delivered to the registrar within the shortest possible time and not later than twenty-four hours after the time of death, by any of the relatives or residents in the house of the decedent who is of legal age, or by the undertaker or the person in charge of the burial, or by any of the other persons enumerated in § 1101 of this title. The person in charge of presenting said certificate shall obtain the necessary personal and statistical data from someone having knowledge thereof, who shall sign said certificate and write his address thereon. Said certificate shall then be presented to the attending physician or to the physician who is to issue the medical certificate as to the cause of the death, as hereinbefore provided, who shall forthwith fill out and sign the said certificate, or to the prosecuting attorney or any other officer authorized to investigate the cause of death, when this may be necessary, according to § 1107 of this title, so that he may set forth such cause over his signature. Then there shall be set forth over the signature of the undertaker or the person in charge of the burial, the facts relative to the date and place of the interment, cremation, or removal of the corpse, and the certificate shall then be presented to the register for obtaining the corresponding burial permit or removal-and-burial permit, as may be necessary; Provided, That in case the person bound to present the death certificate does not know how to read and write, such certificate shall be filled out by the registrar with the information said person shall furnish him.
The undertaker or the person in charge of the corpse shall deliver the burial permit or removal-and-burial permit, as the case may be, to the keeper of the cemetery of the place where the interment is to be effected, before interring or otherwise disposing of the corpse.
When a death has occurred outside the domicile of the deceased, the head of the house where said death has occurred, or, in default thereof, another resident or neighbor of legal age, may prepare and present the death certificate.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, § 14; Apr. 28, 1954, No. 24, p. 152.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 85 - Deaths (§§ 1101 — 1111) › § 1109 - Burial permit; removal-and-burial permit; embalming certificate

If the interment or any other disposition to be made of the corpse is to take place within the Island of Puerto Rico, the burial permit or removal-and-burial permit shall be limited to a declaration by the registrar to the effect that a death certificate prepared and filled out in accordance with the requirements of this part having been delivered to him, a permit is granted to inter or remove and inter the corpse, stating the name, age, sex, cause of death, and any other details that may be necessary, on a printed form to be furnished by the Secretary of Health.
If, on the contrary, the corpse is to be removed outside the Island of Puerto Rico, the person, agency or organization in charge of its transportation, shall present to the health officer of the town, besides the removal permit herein stated, an embalming certificate, upon the receipt of which documents, the health officer shall examine the corpse so as to verify that the proper regulations on removal of corpses abroad have been complied with, in which case he shall authorize the removal thereof, upon the printed forms that for such purpose the Secretary of Health shall furnish.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, § 15; Apr. 28, 1948, No. 51, p. 100, § 1; Apr. 28, 1954, No. 24, p. 152.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 85 - Deaths (§§ 1101 — 1111) › § 1110 - Register of interments by cemetery keeper; endorsement on burial permits

Gravediggers or cemetery keepers shall not inter, nor shall they permit the interment, cremation or other final disposition of any corpse, unless a burial permit or a removal-and-burial permit, as the case may be, is delivered to them. In each cemetery, the cemetery keeper shall keep a register of all interments made, setting forth in each case the name of the decedent, place of death, date of burial and name and address of the undertaker or person in charge of the burial, and said register shall be kept up to date and available [at] all times for inspection by the municipal or judicial authorities or by the officers of the Department of Health. Cemetery keepers shall set forth on the back of each burial permit or removal-and-burial permit the date on which the burial took place, and shall forward it, with their signature, to the registrar of the district where the cemetery is located, within the seven (7) days following the date of interment.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, § 16; Apr. 28, 1954, No. 24, p. 152.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 85 - Deaths (§§ 1101 — 1111) › § 1111 - Deaths—Notice to the Secretary of Transportation and Public Works

The Registrar of each District Vital Statistics Registry shall have the obligation of notifying, on a monthly basis, the Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Public Works on the deaths within his/her District in order for the latter to cancel all removable placards that had been granted to the deceased persons when they were alive.
The notice shall be issued within the first fifteen (15) days of the following month.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, added as § 16-A on Oct. 7, 2009, No. 111, § 1.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 87 - Births (§§ 1131 — 1139) › § 1131 - Declaration of birth; time

Within a period of thirty (30) days computed from the date on which the birth of a human being has occurred, the declaration thereof shall be made before any keeper of the Vital Statistics Registry, to whom a birth certificate shall be delivered for its due registration in the manner hereinafter provided.
When the declaration is made in a municipality other than that in which the birth occurred, it is the obligation of the Demographic Registry and Vital Statistics Division of the Department of Health to send said declaration to the keeper of the Vital Statistics Registry of the municipality where the birth occurred for its recording in the proper local registry within five (5) days following the date of its receipt. The medical-hospital institution shall be under the obligation to notify the Vital Statistics Registry corresponding to the municipality in which it is located the births occurring in the same within a term of ten (10) days after the last day of the month in which the birth occurred.
In those cases in which the place of birth is not an institution, the person attending the birth shall be under the obligation to notify the Vital Statistics Registry within the term previously stated.
When a birth occurs in an airplane or vessel while navigating and the child is removed from the vessel in any of the municipalities in Puerto Rico, the birth shall be registered in that municipality, but the birth certificate shall indicate the place where the birth occurred as far as it can be determined.
The requirement of birth declaration and registration as provided by this chapter shall be of obligatory and universal application in view of the compelling interest of the Commonwealth to ensure the protection of the rights of all the persons born within its jurisdiction. The Commonwealth shall not recognize any excuse or exemption from its compliance.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, § 17; Apr. 16, 1952, No. 41, p. 96, § 1; May 25, 1961, No. 19, p. 49, § 1; Feb. 23, 1978, No. 1, p. 3, § 1; Aug. 15, 2007, No. 111, § 1.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 87 - Births (§§ 1131 — 1139) › § 1132a - Birth in institution; signature in birth certificate by the father or mother who voluntarily wishes to recognize the child

The administrator or director of the institution, when a birth occurs in a hospital, sanatorium, asylum, penitentiary, or any other public or private institution established in Puerto Rico, shall be under the obligation to provide the certificate of birth to the father or mother who voluntary wishes to recognize the newborn child, so that he/she may sign his/her full name in the corresponding space during the mother’s stay at the institution. If he/she refuses to do so voluntarily, the administrator or director of said institution shall be under the obligation to complete the birth certificate with the information of the mother, and once it is signed by her, the former shall send it to the Vital Statistics Registry. In the case the mother refuses to sign the birth certificate, the administrator or director of the institution shall make an annotation on the back of the document, signing it and writing the time and date in which said annotation was made. The Administrator or director of the institution shall remit said signed birth certificate to the Vital Statistics Registry for its registration.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, added as § 18-A on Aug. 17, 1994, No. 86, § 62; Aug. 10, 2006, No. 157, § 1; Aug. 15, 2007, No. 111, § 3.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 87 - Births (§§ 1131 — 1139) › § 1133a - Recording of birth acknowledged by only one parent

If the birth is acknowledged by only one of the parents, it shall be the Registry of Vital Statistics’ obligation to register the birth stating both surnames of the only parent to recognize it, if so requested by said father or mother at the moment it is registered.
If after the registration there were an intention of voluntary acknowledgement, the Registry of Vital Statistics shall have the obligation of substituting the father’s or mother’s surname pursuant to the evidence presented.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, added as § 19-A on July 12, 1985, No. 104, p. 351, § 2, eff. 60 days after July 12, 1985.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 87 - Births (§§ 1131 — 1139) › § 1135 - Special file for documents modifying civil status

On petition of an interested person, documents showing the juridical acts modifying in any manner the civil status or the condition of a person registered, shall be kept in a special file in the Department of Health, in which reference shall be made to the birth certificate to which they correspond.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, § 21, eff. 90 days after Apr. 22, 1931.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 87 - Births (§§ 1131 — 1139) › § 1136 - Adoptions; change in registration; confidential

If the birth of an adoptee had previously been registered in the Vital Statistics Registry, the registration certificate of such birth shall be substituted for another showing the new juridic status of the registered child, as if he were a legitimate child of the adopters; Provided, That the original registration certificate of the birth of the adoptee, the decision of the court, and other documents shall be kept in the Registry in a sealed envelope and shall be confidential documents. In no registration certificate issued by the Registry shall the fact of the original registration be set forth, unless the petitioner of said certificate has expressly required the showing of such facts and a competent court has so ordered for justified causes; Provided, That such authorization shall not be required when the applicant be the adopter or the adoptee.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, added as § 21A on June 15, 1953, No. 84, p. 296, § 2, eff. 90 days after June 15, 1953.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 87 - Births (§§ 1131 — 1139) › § 1137 - Registration based upon adoption

In case the adoptee was born in Puerto Rico and does not find his birth registered in the Vital Statistics Registry, the registration shall be made on the basis of the facts arising from the adoption.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, added as § 21B on June 15, 1953, No. 84, p. 296, § 2, eff. 90 days after June 15, 1953.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 87 - Births (§§ 1131 — 1139) › § 1138 - Registration of adoptions made outside of Commonwealth

Any adoption made outside of Puerto Rico of a person born in Puerto Rico shall, at the request of an interested party, be recorded in the Vital Statistics Registry upon previous presentation of an authenticated copy of the decision or decree authorizing the adoption, following the same procedure set forth in § 1137 of this title. If said decision or decree does not show all the circumstances necessary for the registration, the interested party shall complete it by means of an affidavit which shall be attached to the other documents.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, added as § 21C on June 15, 1953, No. 84, p. 296, § 2, eff. 90 days after June 15, 1953.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 87 - Births (§§ 1131 — 1139) › § 1139 - Special registry of adoptees born outside and adopted in commonwealth

In case the adoptee was born outside of Puerto Rico, but was adopted in Puerto Rico, it shall be the duty of the Chief of the Division of Demographic Registry and Vital Statistics of the Department of Health to transmit to the proper officer of the adoptee’s birth place, a certified copy of the decision issued by the court in the adoption case.
The Vital Statistics Registry shall keep a special registry for the registration of adoptions of persons born outside of Puerto Rico and adopted in Puerto Rico.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, added as § 21D on June 15, 1953, No. 84, p. 296, § 2; May 25, 1961, No. 19, p. 49, § 1.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 89 - Marriages and Divorces (§§ 1161 — 1168) › § 1161 - Record of marriage where celebrated

Every marriage contracted in Puerto Rico in accordance with Section II, Chapter I, Title VI, of the Civil Code, shall be recorded in the Registry of Vital Statistics of the district in which the marriage is celebrated.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, § 22, eff. 90 days after Apr. 22, 1931.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 89 - Marriages and Divorces (§§ 1161 — 1168) › § 1162 - Marriage license; issuance

There can be no marriage if the contracting parties have not previously obtained a marriage license, which the contracting parties have provided themselves with a marriage license which shall be issued, at the request of either of the parties by the registrar of the district in which either of the contracting parties resides. Said license shall be delivered by the contracting parties before the ceremony, to the priest, minister, or magistrate who is to perform the same. No fee shall be collected for the issuance of the said license. If one or both parties are not residents of Puerto Rico, said license shall be issued by the registrar of the district in which the marriage is to be held. In the event that the marriage is to be held in articulo mortis, the official authorizing it may issue the license.
When applying for a marriage license, the contracting parties shall be provided a summary of the Premarital Counseling Course drafted by the Department of the Family. If the contracting parties present evidence of having completed such type of course, it shall be thus noted in the license issued by the Registrar.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, § 23; July 18, 1935, No. 27, p. 160, § 1, eff. 90 days after July 18, 1935; June 16, 2011, No. 92, § 4.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 89 - Marriages and Divorces (§§ 1161 — 1168) › § 1163 - Delivery of marriage license, affidavit, and certificate to keeper of register

Every person with legal authority before whom a marriage has been celebrated shall be obliged to deliver, within ten (10) days after such celebration, to the keeper of the Register of the district in which said ceremony took place, the marriage license and the affidavit presented by the contracting parties in accordance with the provisions of law, together with the marriage certificate, which shall state the date and the place where the marriage was performed, and shall contain the signatures of the officiating person, of the contracting parties and of the witnesses to the act.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, § 24, eff. 90 days after Apr. 22, 1931.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 89 - Marriages and Divorces (§§ 1161 — 1168) › § 1164 - Transcription of marriage certificate

Upon the receipt of said documents, the Keeper of the Register shall make a transcription of the marriage certificate in the book kept for such purpose in his office, and he shall send the original documents to the Department of Health of Puerto Rico, as hereinafter provided.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, § 25, eff. 90 days after Apr. 22, 1931.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 89 - Marriages and Divorces (§§ 1161 — 1168) › § 1165 - Information for marriage documents

To facilitate compliance with §§ 1161—1164 of this title, it shall be required that the marriage license, as well as the sworn statement to be presented by the contracting parties and the marriage certificate, contain, at least, the following details:
(1) The place, hour, day, month and year in which the marriage took place.
(2) The name and character of the officer or minister of the gospel who performed the marriage ceremony.
(3) The given names, surnames, age, race, civil status, place of birth, profession or trade, and domicile of the contracting parties.
(4) Given names, surnames and place of birth of the parents.
(5) Given names, surnames, occupation, and residence of the witnesses.
(6) The circumstance, if such is the case, that the marriage was performed in articulo mortis.
(7) In the case of minors, the circumstance that the consent required by law has been obtained.
(8) The given names and surnames of the deceased spouse or spouses, and the date and place of death, in case one or both of the contracting parties are widowed.
(9) The given names and surnames of the previous spouse or spouses, and the date and court in which divorce was granted, in case one or both of the contracting parties are divorced.
(10) The name, last names, age and address of all the children had by the contracting parties prior to the marriage to be held.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, § 26; May 12, 1943, No. 117, p. 344, § 1; Sept. 2, 2000, No. 326, § 1.