CHAPTER I
Principles and definitions

Article 4. Right to truth, justice, and reparations and due process. The process of national reconciliation made possible by this law should promote, in every case, the right of the victims to the truth, justice, and reparations, and respect the rights to due process and judicial guarantees of those persons who are prosecuted.

Article 5. Definition of victim. For the purposes of this law, the victim is understood to be a person who individually or collectively has suffered direct harm such as temporary or permanent injuries that cause some type of physical, psychological, or sensory disability (visual and/or hearing), emotional suffering, financial loss, or infringement of his or her fundamental rights. The harm must be the consequence of actions that were in violation of the criminal law, by illegal armed groups.
In addition, the victim shall be understood to refer to the spouse, or common-law spouse, and relatives in the first degree of consanguinity, or first civil, of the direct victim, when the victim was killed or is disappeared.
The status of victim is acquired independent of whether the perpetrator of the criminal conduct has been identified, apprehended, prosecuted, or convicted, and without consideration of any family relationship between the perpetrator and the victim.
In addition, victims shall also include the members of the armed forces and National Police who have suffered temporary or permanent injuries that cause some type of physical, psychological and/or sensory disability (visual or hearing), or infringement of his or her fundamental rights, as a consequence of the actions of a member or members of the illegal armed groups.
In addition, victims shall include the spouse, common-law spouse, and relatives within the first degree of consanguinity, of the members of the armed forces and National Police who have lost their lives in undertaking acts in service, that were service-related, or outside of service, as a result of the acts carried out by a member or members of the illegal groups.

CHAPTER I
Principles and definitions

Article 6. Right to Justice. Under existing legal provisions, the State has the duty to undertake an effective investigation that leads to the identification, capture, and punishment of persons responsible for crimes committed by the members of illegal armed groups; to ensure the victims of such conduct access to effective remedies to make reparation for the harm inflicted; and to adopt measures aimed at preventing the recurrence of such violations.
The public authorities who are involved in the proceedings that take place pursuant to this law should give special attention to the duty addressed in this article.

CHAPTER I
Principles and definitions

Article 8. Right to reparation. The victims’ right to reparation includes the actions taken for restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction, and guarantees of non-repetition.
Restitution is defined as actions that seek to return the victim to the situation prior to the
crime.
Indemnity is defined as compensation for the damages caused by the crime. Rehabilitation is defined as actions aimed at the recovery of victims who suffer physical and psychological traumas as a result of the crime.
Satisfaction or moral compensation is defined as actions aimed at reestablishing the dignity of the victim and disseminating the truth about what happened.

Guarantees of non-repetition include, among others, the demobilization and dismantling of the illegal armed groups.
Symbolic reparation is understood to mean any benefit granted the victims or the community in general aimed at ensuring the preservation of the historical memory, the non-repetition of the victimizing acts, the public acceptance of the acts, public forgiveness, and reestablishing the victims’ dignity.
Collective reparation should be geared to the psychosocial rebuilding of the populations affected by the violence. This mechanism is established especially for the communities affected by the occurrence of acts of systematic violence.
The competent judicial authorities shall set the individual, collective, or symbolic reparations as appropriate, in the terms of this law.

CHAPTER IV
Investigation and prosecution

Article 17. Spontaneous declaration and confession. The members of the illegal armed group whose names are submitted by the National Government for the consideration of the Office of the Attorney General, who expressly avail themselves of the procedure and benefits of this law, shall make a spontaneous declaration before the prosecutor delegate assigned to the process of demobilization, who will question them about all the facts of which they have knowledge.
In the presence of their defense counsel they shall describe the circumstances of time, manner, and place in which they have participated in the criminal acts committed on occasion of their membership in these groups, prior to their demobilizing, and in respect of which they avail themselves of this law. In that procedure they shall indicate the assets that are surrendered for

making reparation to the victims, if they have any, and the date of their entry in the group.
The declaration given by the demobilized person and all other records produced in the demobilization process shall be placed immediately at the disposition of the National Prosecutorial Unit for Justice and Peace so that the prosecutor delegate and the Judicial Police assigned to the case may prepare and develop the methodological program for initiating the investigation, verifying the truthfulness of the information provided, and clarifying those facts and all those that come to its attention within the scope of its authority.
The demobilized person shall immediately be placed at the disposal of the judge who performs the function of controlling guarantees in one of the places of detention determined by the National Government pursuant to Article 31 of this law, who within the subsequent thirty-six (36) hours shall schedule and hold an arraignment hearing, pending a prior request by the prosecutor handling the case.

CHAPTER IV
Investigation and prosecution

Article 23. Interlocutory proceeding for comprehensive reparation. In the same hearing in which the respective Chamber of the Superior Judicial District Court finds that the acceptance of the charges is lawful, after an express request made by the victim, or by the prosecutor handling the case or by the Public Ministry upon request of the victim, the judge writing for the court shall immediately open the interlocutory proceeding for comprehensive reparation of the harm caused by the criminal conduct, and shall call a public hearing within five (5) days.
That hearing shall begin with a statement by the victim or his or her legal representative or public defender, to state specifically the type of reparation sought, and to indicate the evidence that he or she will introduce to support his or her claims.
The Chamber shall examine the claim, and shall dismiss it if the person filing it is not the victim or if actual payment of the damages is shown and if this were the only claim made; said decision may be challenged in the terms of this law.
Once the claim is admitted, the Chamber shall inform the accused that it has accepted the charges, and will then invite the parties involved to conciliate. If they reach agreement, it shall be incorporated in the ruling in the interlocutory proceeding; otherwise, it shall order that the evidence offered by the parties be produced, it shall hear the arguments in support of their respective claims, and in the same act it shall rule on the interlocutory proceeding. A decision either way shall be incorporated into the guilty verdict.
Paragraph 1. Exclusively for the purposes of the conciliation provided for in this article,
the victim, the accused or defense counsel, the prosecutor handling the case, or the Public Ministry may ask that the Director of the Social Solidarity Network (Red de Solidaridad Social) be subpoenaed in his capacity as controller of expenditures of the Fund for the Reparation of Victims.
Paragraph 2. The granting of an alternative penalty may not be denied if the victim fails to exercise his or her right in the interlocutory proceeding for comprehensive reparation.

CHAPTER IV
Investigation and prosecution

Article 24. Content of the verdict. In keeping with the criteria established in the law, the guilty verdict shall set the principal sentence and the accessory penalties. It shall also include the alternative sentence provided for in this law, the commitments with respect to conduct for the term ordered by the Court, the obligations with respect to moral and economic reparation to the victims, and forfeiture of the assets that are to be earmarked for reparation.
The respective Chamber shall be responsible for evaluating compliance with the requirements provided for in this law to be eligible for the alternative penalty.