BOOK SEVENTH.

EXECUTION OF SENTENCES.

ART. 983. Every accused person acquitted by a sentence shall immediately be placed at liberty, unless the exercise of a remedy which produces a stay of execution, or the existence of other legal grounds shall render the postponement of the imprisonment necessary, which shall be ordered in a writ setting forth the grounds for the same.

ART. 984. The execution of a sentence in actions upon misdemeanors pertains to the municipal judge who may have taken cognizance of the trial.

The judge of examination who shall have taken cognizance on appeal of an action upon a misdemeanor, shall transmit a certified copy of the final sentence to the proper municipal judge for the purposes of the foregoing paragraph.

ART. 985. The execution of a sentence in causes involving crimes pertains to the court which shall have pronounced the final sentence.

ART. 986. Notwithstanding the provisions of the foregoing article, a sentence rendered after an annulment by the second chamber of the Supreme Court, shall be executed by the court which shall have pronounced the sentence annulled, in view of the certificate transmitted to it by the said chamber for the said purpose.

ART. 987. When the court to which the execution of the sentence pertains, should not itself be able to take all the measures necessary, it shall commission the judge of the district or circuit in which they are to be carried out to do so.

ART. 988. When a sentence is final, in accordance with the provisions of article 141 of this law, the judge or court which rendered it shall make a declaration to this effect.

After this declaration has been made, the execution of the sentence shall be proceeded with, even though the criminal be subject to another cause, in which case he shall be conducted, when necessary, from the penal institution in which he is serving his sentence, to the place where the pending cause is being held.

ART. 989. When the penalty imposed in a final sentence is that of death, the chamber of the Supreme Court shall not transmit the certificate mentioned in article 986 until the Colonial Minister shall have acknowledged receipt of the report referred to in article 953.

After the penalty of death has been executed, a record shall be

gencia por el secretario que hubiese asistido á ella, dándose conocimiento inmediatamente al Ministerio de Ultramar y al Tribunal Supremo.'

ART. 990. Las penas se ejecutarán en la forma y tiempo prescritos en el código penal y en los reglamentos.

Corresponde al juez ó tribunal á quien el presente código impone el deber hacer ejecutar la sentencia, adoptar sin dilación las medidas necesarias para que el condenado ingrese en el establecimiento penal destinado al efecto, á cuyo fin requerirá el auxilio de las autoridades administrativas, que deberán prestárselo sin excusa ni pretexto alguno.

La competencia del juez ó tribunal para hacer cumplir la sentencia excluye la de cualquiera autoridad gubernativa hasta que el condenado tenga ingreso en el establecimiento penal ó se traslade al lugar en donde deba cumplir la condena.

Los tribunales ejercerán además las facultades de inspección que las leyes y reglamentos les atribuyan sobre la manera de cumplirse las penas.

ART. 991. Los confinados que se supongan en estado de demencia serán constituidos en observación, instruyéndose al efecto por la comandancia del presidio en que aquéllos se encuentren un expediente informativo de los hechos y motivos que hayan dado lugar á la sospecha de la demencia, en el que se consigne el primer juicio, ó por lo menos, la certificación de los facultativos que los hayan examinado y observado.

ART. 992. Consignada la gravedad de la sospecha, el comandante del presidio dará cuenta inmediatamente, con copia literal del expediente instruido, al presidente del tribunal sentenciador de que procedan los confinados, sin perjuicio de ponerlo en conocimiento de la dirección general de establecimientos penales.

ART. 993. El presidente pasará el expediente á que se refiere el artículo anterior al tribunal sentenciador, el cual, con preferencia, oirá al fiscal y al acusador particular de la causa si lo hubiere, y dán

1 Por Real decreto de 9 de Abril de 1888, se dispuso:

"Artículo 1. El orden de prelación para el cumplimiento de las condenas que simultáneamente se impongan á un mismo reo, debe señarlarle el tribunal respectivo; pero si las circunstancias no han permitido hacer este señalamiento, el Ministerio de Gracia y Justicia seguirá el establecido en el artículo 89 del código penal.

"ART. 2.o Cuando un reo esté cumpliendo una pena y se le impusiere otra más grave, se suspenderá desde luego el cumplimiento de aquélla para que extinga ésta, dejando el resto de la suspendida para que la cumpla al terminar la de mayor gravedad.

"ART. 3. Siempre que se haga uso de lo preceptuado en este decreto, se pondrá inmediatamente en conocimiento del tribunal ó tribunales que hubieren sentenciado al reo."

made in the proceedings by the secretary who shall have attended it, and shall immediately inform the Colonial Department and the Supreme Court thereof. '

ART. 990. Penalties shall be executed in the form and at the time prescribed in the penal code and the regulations.

It is the duty of the judge or court upon whom this code imposes the duty of enforcing the execution of a sentence, to adopt without delay the measures necessary in order that the person condemned enter the penal institution provided therefor, for which purpose he shall call upon the assistance of the administrative authorities, who must furnish the same without any excuse or pretext whatsoever.

The jurisdiction of the judge or court to enforce the compliance of the sentence excludes that of any administrative authority until the person condemned shall have entered the penal institution or is taken to the place where he is to serve his sentence.

Courts shall furthermore exercise the powers of supervision which the laws and regulations vest in them with regard to the manner of fulfilling penalties.

ART. 991. Confined persons who are supposed to be in a state of insanity shall be placed under observation, a report being prepared for the purpose by the chief of the penitentiary in which they may be, stating the acts and grounds which may have given rise to a suspicion of insanity, and in which shall be embodied the first judgment, or at least a certificate of the physician who may have examined and observed them.

ART. 992. After the gravity of the suspicion has been established, the chief of the penitentiary shall immediately inform thereof the presiding judge of the sentencing court from which the confined persons came, transmitting a literal copy of the proceedings had, without prejudice to informing the general administration of penal institutions thereof.

ART. 993. The presiding judge shall transmit the proceedings referred to in the foregoing article to the sentencing court, which shall immediately hear the fiscal and the private accuser in the cause, if there

1 By a royal decree of April 9, 1888, it was ordered:

"ART. 1. The order of preference for the fulfillment of penalties which are simultaneously imposed upon the same criminal must be fixed by the respective court; but if the circumstances have not permitted this to be done, the Department of Grace and Justice shall observe the order established in article 89 of the penal code.

"ART. 2. When a criminal is serving one sentence and another heavier one is imposed upon him, the fulfillment of the former shall be suspended at once, in order that he may extinguish the latter, leaving the balance of that suspended for fulfillment upon the termination of the greater one.

"ART. 3. Whenever the provisions of this decree are made use of, the court or courts which shall have sentenced the criminal shall be immediately informed thereof."

dose intervención y audiencia al defensor del penado ó nombrándosele de oficio para este caso si no lo tuviere, acordará la instrucción más amplia y formal sobre los hechos y el estado físico y moral de los pacientes, por los mismos medios legales de prueba que se hubieran empleado si el incidente hubiese ocurrido durante el seguimiento de la causa, comisionando al efecto al juez de instrucción del partido en que se hallen los confinados.

ART. 994. Sustanciado el incidente á que se refieren los artículos anteriores en juicio contradictorio si hubiese oposición, y en forma ordinaria si no la hubiese, y después de oír las declaraciones juradas de los peritos en el arte de curar y, en su caso, de la Academia de Medicina y Cirugía, se dictará el fallo que proceda. El fallo se comunicará al comandante del presidio quien, si se hubiese declarado la demencia, trasladará al penado demente al establecimiento que corresponda, todo sin perjuicio de cumplir con lo que el código penal previene si, en cualquier tiempo, el demente recobrase su juicio.

ART. 995. Cuando la pena impuesta sea la de interdicción civil, cuidará el juez 6 tribunal de que se observen las reglas siguientes sobre efectos civiles de la interdicción:

1a. Si el penado con la interdicción civil fuese soltero y estuviere emancipado, se le proveerá, según su edad, de curador ejemplar ú ordinario, á fin de que administre sus bienes y aplique los productos en la parte necesaria á cubrir sus obligaciones.

2. Lo mismo se observará si el penado fuere casado y se hallare separado de su cónyuge por sentencia de divorcio.

a

3. El nombramiento de curador en los casos á que se refieren las dos reglas anteriores, se hará con sujeción á lo prescrito en la ley de enjuiciamiento civil.

4. Si el penado estuviere casado y no separado por la sentencia de divorcio de su mujer, se encargará ésta de la administración de los bienes de la sociedad conyugal.

Si la mujer del penado fuere de menor edad, se la proveerá de curador, habiendo de ser preferidos para este cargo sucesivamente el padre, madre, abuelos, hermanos y parientes más próximos de la menor.

5. Los bienes del penado que correspondan á la clase de los comprendidos en el artículo 2010 de la ley de enjuiciamiento civil no podrán ser enajenados, hipotecados, empeñados ni gravados, sino en la forma y con las solemnidades establecidas en los artículos 2011 y siguientes de la misma ley.1

be any, and counsel for the convict shall be allowed to appear and shall be heard, or one shall be appointed ex officio for this case, should he not have any; it shall order the fullest and most formal investigation of the acts and the physical and moral condition of the patients by the same legal means of proof which would have been employed if the incident had occurred during the course of the cause, the judge of examination of the district in which the confined persons may be being commissioned for the purpose.

ART. 994. After the incident referred to in the foregoing articles has been heard in a contradictory action, if there be opposition, and in the ordinary form if there be none, and after hearing the sworn statements of the experts in the art of curing, and, in a proper case, of the Academy of Medicine and Surgery, the proper decision shall be rendered. The decision shall be communicated to the head of the penitentiary who, if the insanity shall have been declared, shall transfer the insane criminal to the proper institution, all without prejudice to complying with the provisions of the penal code if at any time the lunatic shall recover his reason.

ART. 995. If the penalty imposed be that of civil interdiction, the judge or court shall take care that the following rules upon the civil effect of the interdiction be observed:

1. If the person punished by the civil interdiction should be single and emancipated, he shall be assigned, according to his age, an exemplary or ordinary curator, in order that he may administer his property and apply the proceeds thereof in so far as necessary to meet his obligations.

2. The same shall be observed if the person punished be married and is separated from his spouse by a decree of divorce.

3. The appointment of curator in the cases referred to in the two preceding rules shall be made subject to the provisions of the law of civil procedure.

4. If the convict should be married and not separated from his wife by a decree of divorce, the latter shall take charge of the administration of the property of the conjugal partnership.

If the wife of the convict should be under legal age, she shall be assigned a curator, preference being given for this charge successively to the father, mother, grand parents, brothers, and sisters and nearest relatives of the minor.

5. The property of the convict belonging to the class included in Art. 201 of the law of civil procedure cannot be alienated, mortgaged, pledged, nor incumbered, except in the manner and with the formalities prescribed in articles 2011 et seq. of the said law.1

1 See articles referred to in Appendix III.