Public Criminal Defense Office approves code of ethics for criminal defense

The Public Criminal Defense Office, under the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, approved the new Deontological Code for Public Criminal Defense through exempt resolution No. 375, signed on August 20, 2026, by the National Defender, Verónica Encina Vera. The regulation was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile No. 44,536, on Friday, August 28, 2026, and comes into effect as of that publication.

The code regulates the deontological duties of the provision of public criminal defense, understood as ethical obligations, guiding principles, and rules of conduct of a strictly binding and mandatory nature. Its scope extends to those who exercise public criminal defense regardless of their modality of affiliation according to Law No. 19,718, which creates the institution—that is, both official defenders and providers contracted through public tender, as well as providing legal entities and those who collaborate in the provision of the defense.

A Renewed Ethical Framework

The new regulation replaces the first Deontological Code of the Public Criminal Defender, approved in 2010 through exempt resolution No. 2,907, which is rendered null and void as of the entry into force of the present resolution. The text is based on the standards set by exempt resolution No. 327 of 2024, regarding Basic Standards for the Exercise of Public Criminal Defense, and exempt resolution No. 193 of 2026, which approves the institution’s Integrity Policy and System.

The code is structured into eight titles and forty articles, which address everything from the general principles of the function to the compliance and sanction regime. Among its key pillars are integrity, technical independence, inexcusability, loyalty toward the defended person, and the permanent updating of professional competencies.

Confidentiality and Professional Secrecy

A central block of the code regulates the duty of confidentiality and the right to professional secrecy. It establishes that the duty not to reveal information about the defended person, the case, or the defense strategy persists even after the termination of the representation, the substitution of the defender, or the death of the defended person, and is not extinguished by the mere passage of time.

The disclosure of protected information is only permitted exceptionally, in specific cases:

• With the express, specific, and informed approval of the defended person.
• Disclosures implicitly authorized to carry out the defense work.
• Information already exposed in the media without the lawyer’s intervention.
• Defense of the legitimate interests of the defender against serious and unfounded allegations.
• To prevent the accused from committing a serious and imminent crime against the life or physical integrity of third parties or themselves.
• Information about a deceased defended person, indispensable to avoid a wrongful conviction.

Conflicts of interest and material evidence

The code incorporates detailed rules on conflicts of interest, including the prohibition of acting as a complainant or private criminal defense attorney in the area where the function is exercised, the disqualification from representing former clients in substantially related matters, and the prohibition of representing co-defendants simultaneously or successively when there is a risk of incompatible interests.

Financial obligations to clients are also regulated, prohibiting the entering into contracts of a financial nature during the representation and up to six months after its expiration, as well as receiving gifts or remuneration other than institutional ones. Regarding material evidence, the defender shall not receive, transport, or store objects with evidentiary relevance, except in cases of strict necessity, and must keep them securely and separately.

Compliance and sanction

The final title of the code establishes that any infringement will make the defense providers directly responsible, who will answer in accordance with the Administrative Statute (DFL-29) or according to their contract, administrative bases, and annexes, without prejudice to the civil or criminal liability provided for in articles 68 and following of Law No. 19,718. The regulation was also published on the institutional website to comply with the active transparency regulations of Law No. 20,285.

The entry into force of this code represents a milestone in the consolidation of homogeneous ethical standards for all Chilean public criminal defense, both for staff lawyers and those under contract, reinforcing the constitutional guarantee of the right to legal defense recognized in Article 19 No. 3 of the Political Constitution of the Republic.

Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile, No. 44,536, Friday, August 28, 2026, General Norms, page 1 of 10 (official reference: CVE 2861561).