P.R. Laws tit. 34, § 1724l
The persons notified as provided herein who prove to be owners of the property, may contest the forfeiture within thirty (30) days following the date on which notice was received, by filing a complaint against the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the official who authorized the seizure. Notice shall be served to the Secretary of Justice within fifteen (15) days following the filing of the complaint. In the event that notice is returned, the aforementioned terms shall begin to count after said notice is received by the Department of Justice. The above are jurisdictional terms. The Secretary of Justice shall represent the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in all forfeiture contests and he/she shall file his/her plea within the thirty (30) days after being served notice. The complaint must be filed with the Superior Part of the Court of First Instance. The court shall process these complaints in an expedited manner and the proceedings shall be held without being docketed.
The complaint authorized under this chapter must strictly comply with the following terms: the court with which the complaint shall be filed must adjudicate it within a term of six (6) months after the answer to the complaint is filed, unless this term is waived or extended by the written consent of all parties thereto and for just cause, for a term that shall not exceed thirty (30) additional days; the legality and correctness of the forfeiture shall be presumed independent from any other criminal or administrative case, or any other proceeding related to the same facts. The burden of proof is on the complainant to defeat the legality of the forfeiture. Discovery shall be carried out within the first thirty (30) days counted from the date on which the answer to the complaint is filed and it shall not extend to the sworn statements in the prosecutor’s record until the right thereto is obtained as a result of a criminal action related to the events of the forfeiture.
Once the answer to the complaint is filed, the court shall order a hearing on standing to establish whether the complainant was the owner or had control over the property before the events that led to the forfeiture took place. The court may dismiss the action immediately for failure to meet this requirement.
For the purposes of this chapter, a person shall be considered as the “owner” of a property when he/she proves to hold ownership interest in the forfeited property, including a person who holds a lien on said property as of the date of the seizure of the forfeited property, or a valid assignment on said proprietary interest.
History —July 12, 2011, No. 119, § 15; Sept. 19, 2012, No. 262, § 1.