Peru-COD-PENAL_Updated-2018-Spanish.pdf (4.1 MB)
*Excerpts from Peru's criminal code related to crimes protecting animals:
Peru's Criminal Code
Legislative Decree No 635
Promulgated: 03-04-91 (April 03,1991)
Published: 08-04-91 (April 04, 1991)
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Article 36. Inabilities
Inability entails, as ordered by the judicial decision:
(…)
13. Permanent or temporary incapacity to keep animals.
TITLE V: CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY
CHAPTER II-A: CATTLE RUSTLING
Article 189-A: Cattle theft
Anyone who, for personal gain, unlawfully takes cattle (bovine, ovine, equine, caprine, porcine, or camelid), whether fully or partially belonging to another, even if it is just one animal, by removing it from its location, shall be punished with imprisonment for not less than one year and not more than three years.
If any of the circumstances provided in paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the first paragraph of Article 186 occur, the penalty shall be imprisonment for not less than three years and not more than six years.
If the crime is committed under the circumstances outlined in paragraphs 2, 4, and 5 of the second paragraph of Article 186, the penalty shall be imprisonment for not less than four years and not more than ten years.
The penalty shall be not less than 8 years and not more than 15 years when the offender acts as a leader, head, or organizer of a group intended to commit these crimes.
Article 189-B: Unauthorized use of cattle
Anyone who takes another's cattle for temporary use and returns it, directly or indirectly, within seventy-two hours shall be punished with imprisonment for not more than one year or community service for not more than fifty days. If the animal is returned after this period, the previous article shall apply.
Article 189-C: Cattle robbery
Anyone who unlawfully takes cattle (bovine, ovine, equine, caprine, porcine, or camelid), whether fully or partially belonging to another, even if it is just one animal, by removing it from its location, using violence against a person or threatening imminent danger to their life or physical integrity, shall be punished with imprisonment for not less than three years and not more than eight years.
The penalty shall be imprisonment for not less than five years and not more than fifteen years if the crime is committed by two or more people, or if the offender causes serious injury to another person or carries any kind of weapon or instrument that could be used as such.
If the violence or threat is insignificant, the penalty shall be reduced by one third.
The penalty shall be not less than ten years and not more than twenty years if the crime is committed under the circumstances outlined in paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the second paragraph of Article 189.
The penalty shall be not less than fifteen years and not more than twenty-five years if the offender acts as a leader, head, or organizer of a group intended to commit these crimes.
In cases of competition with crimes against life, body, and health, the penalty shall be applied without prejudice to a more severe penalty that may apply in each case.
CHAPTER IX: DAMAGE [to Property]
Article 205. Simple damage
Anyone who damages, destroys, or renders useless another person's property, movable or immovable, in whole or in part, shall be punished with imprisonment for not more than three years and a fine of thirty to sixty days.
Article 206. Aggravated forms
The penalty for the crime provided in Article 205 shall be imprisonment for not less than one year and not more than six years when:
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4. It causes the destruction of plantations or the death of animals.
Article 206-A. Abandonment and acts of cruelty against domestic and wild animals
Anyone who commits acts of cruelty against a domestic or wild animal or abandons them shall be punished with imprisonment for not more than three years, a fine of one hundred to one hundred eighty days, and disqualification in accordance with paragraph 13 of Article 36.
If as a result of these acts of cruelty or abandonment the domestic or wild animal dies, the penalty shall be imprisonment for not less than three years and not more than five years, a fine of one hundred fifty to three hundred sixty days, and disqualification in accordance with paragraph 13 of Article 36.
Article 207. Manufacturing or sale of spoiled food for animals
Anyone who produces or sells falsified, corrupted, or damaged food, preservatives, additives, and mixtures for animal consumption, whose consumption poses a danger to the life, health, or physical integrity of animals, shall be punished with imprisonment for not more than one year and a fine of thirty to one hundred days.
Article 293. Sale of animals unsafe for consumption
Anyone who, in public places, sells animals fed with solid waste, prepared or not, in contravention of laws, regulations, or established provisions, shall be punished with imprisonment for not less than one year and not more than four years and a fine of one hundred eighty to three hundred sixty-five days.
Article 306. Non-compliance with solid waste management regulations
Anyone who, without authorization or approval from the competent authority, establishes a landfill or dump site for solid waste that could seriously harm the quality of the environment, human health, or the integrity of ecological processes, shall be punished with imprisonment for not more than four years.
If the offender acted negligently, the penalty shall be imprisonment for not more than two years.
When the offender, in contravention of laws, regulations, or established provisions, uses solid waste to feed animals intended for human consumption, the penalty shall be not less than three years and not more than six years and a fine of two hundred sixty to four hundred fifty days.
Article 447. Entry of animals into another's property
The person in charge of the custody of cattle or domestic animals who introduces or lets them enter another's property without causing damage, without the right or permission to do so, shall be punished with up to twenty days fine.
Article 451. Offenses against public safety
Shall be punished with community service from fifteen to thirty days or a fine of up to one hundred eighty days:
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5. Anyone who drives a vehicle or animal at excessive speed, endangering public safety, or entrusts its operation to a minor or inexperienced person.
TITLE XIII: ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES
CHAPTER I: POLLUTION CRIMES
Article 304. Environmental pollution
Anyone who, violating laws, regulations, or permissible limits, causes or discharges, emits, releases toxic gases, noise emissions, leaks, spills, or radiations that pollute the atmosphere, soil, subsoil, terrestrial, marine, or underground waters, causing or likely to cause serious harm to the environment or its components, environmental quality, or environmental health, shall be punished with imprisonment for not less than four years and not more than six years and a fine of one hundred to six hundred days.
If the offender acted negligently, the penalty shall be imprisonment for not more than three years or community service for forty to eighty days.
CHAPTER II: CRIMES AGAINST NATURAL RESOURCES
Article 308. Illegal trafficking of wild flora and fauna species
Anyone who acquires, sells, transports, stores, imports, exports, or re-exports products or specimens of non-timber wild flora and/or wild fauna species without a valid permit or certificate, knowing or presuming their unauthorized origin, shall be punished with imprisonment for not less than three years and not more than five years and a fine of one hundred eighty to four hundred days.
Article 308-A. Illegal trafficking of aquatic species of wild flora and fauna
Anyone who acquires, sells, transports, stores, imports, exports, or re-exports products or specimens of aquatic species of wild flora and/or fauna under any of the following circumstances shall be punished with imprisonment for not less than three years and not more than five years and a fine of one hundred eighty to four hundred days:
- Without a valid permit, license, or certificate.
- In prohibited or restricted times, quantities, sizes, or zones.
Article 308-B. Illegal extraction and processing of aquatic species
Anyone who extracts aquatic flora or fauna species in prohibited or restricted times, quantities, sizes, and zones, or captures species or processes them without the respective permit or license, or exceeds the capture limit per vessel assigned by the competent administrative authority and the relevant law, or does so exceeding it, or uses vessels built without authorization or without a license, prohibited methods, or declared illegal, shall be punished with imprisonment for not less than three years and not more than five years and a fine of one hundred eighty to four hundred days.
Incidental captures of species and/or sizes different from those authorized in any type of fishing and those in the process of formalization are exempted from the application of this article, as long as these are carried out during permitted activities and zones, complying with the relevant fishing regulations.
Article 308-C. Depredation of wild flora and fauna
Anyone who hunts, captures, collects, extracts, or possesses products, roots, or specimens of wild flora and/or fauna species without a concession, permit, license, or authorization or other form of use or extraction granted by the competent authority shall be punished with imprisonment for not less than three years and not more than five years and a fine of fifty to four hundred days.
Article 308-D. Illegal trafficking of genetic resources
Anyone who acquires, sells, transports, stores, imports, exports, or re-exports, without authorization, genetic resources of wild flora and/or fauna species, including aquatic species, shall be punished with imprisonment for not less than three years and not more than five years and a fine of one hundred eighty to four hundred days. The same penalty shall apply to anyone who knowingly finances, in such a way that without their cooperation the activities described in the first paragraph could not have been committed.
Article 309. Aggravated forms
In the cases provided for in Articles 308, 308-A, 308-B, 308-C, and 308-D, the penalty shall be imprisonment for not less than four years and not more than seven years when the crime is committed under any of the following circumstances:
- When the species, specimens, products, or genetic resources, subject of the criminal offense, come from protected natural areas or prohibited zones for the extraction of wild flora and/or fauna, or territories in possession or ownership of native or peasant communities; or, from territorial reserves or indigenous reserves for indigenous peoples in isolation or initial contact, as appropriate.
- By using weapons, explosives, or toxic substances.
- If the offender takes advantage of their position as a public official or servant.
- When it involves species of wild flora and fauna or genetic resources protected by national legislation.
The penalty shall be not less than eleven years and not more than twenty years when the offender acts as a member of a criminal organization.
Article 310. Crimes against forests or forest formations
Anyone who, without a permit, license, authorization, or concession granted by the competent authority, destroys, burns, damages, or cuts down, in whole or in part, forests or other forest formations, whether natural or plantations, shall be punished with imprisonment for not less than four years and not more than six years and community service for forty to eighty days.
Article 313. Alteration of the environment or landscape
Anyone who, in contravention of the provisions of the competent authority, alters the natural environment or the urban or rural landscape, or modifies the flora or fauna by constructing works or cutting down trees, shall be punished with imprisonment for not more than four years and a fine of sixty to ninety days.
Article 314-B. Liability for false information in reports
Anyone who, knowing or presuming the falsity or inaccuracy, signs, drafts, inserts, or causes to be inserted into the administrative procedure, studies, evaluations, environmental audits, forest management plans, requests, or other management documents required by law, in which false or inaccurate information is incorporated or endorsed, shall be punished with imprisonment for not less than four years and not more than six years, and disqualification from one to six years, in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 4 of Article 36.
Anyone who uses a false or forged private document containing false information as if it were legitimate, with the aim of evading control and supervision procedures in forest and wildlife matters related to this Title, including tax, customs, and other controls, shall be punished with the same penalty.
CHAPTER IV: PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES AND EXCLUSION OR REDUCTION OF PENALTIES
Article 314-C. Precautionary measures
Without prejudice to what is ordered by the administrative authority, the Judge shall order the immediate suspension of the polluting, extractive, or predatory activity, as well as other precautionary measures that apply.
In the crimes provided for in this Title, the Judge shall proceed with the prior seizure of the allegedly illicit specimens and the equipment or means used for the commission of the alleged offense. Additionally, the Judge, at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office, shall order the search or forced entry into the place where the alleged criminal offense is being committed.
In case of a conviction, the illicit specimens may be delivered to an appropriate institution, according to the recommendation of the competent authority, and if not applicable, they shall be destroyed.
In no case shall the illicit specimens be returned to the defendant.