Understanding Administrative Appeals in Chile

What facts make an appeal for review?

An appeal for review can be made based on the following:

1. That the decision was rendered without due process.
2. That, in passing, a manifest error of fact has been committed, and it has been crucial to the decision, or valuable documents essential to the resolution of the matter, ignored when issuing the act, or have not been possible to accompany the administrative record at the time.
3. That a final sentence declares that the act was passed as a result of corruption, bribery, violence, or other fraudulent scheme.
4. That crucial documents or testimonies, declared false by final sentence after that resolution, or earlier still, had not been known in due course by the applicant, and have influenced the decision.

What is a Special Administrative Appeal?

Chilean legislation does not have an administrative-law court system or a common or ordinary procedure for these contests. However, the legislature has given powers to certain courts, establishing special procedures and formalities required to meet certain administrative contentious matters, determining the competent court and the formalities and procedures for processing. Ordinary courts are the Supreme Court, Appeals Courts, presidents and ministers of court, oral criminal courts, tribunals, and courts of letters of guarantee.

Explaining the Appeal for Review

The appeal for review is one that stands against final administrative acts and can be brought before the superior, if any, or, failing that, to the authority which issued it. The deadline to appeal is one year, calculated from the day following that on which the decision was issued or since the sentence becomes enforceable, unless it precedes the resolution of which review is sought, in which case the term is computed from the day following its notification.

Explaining the Hierarchical Appeal

The appeal is to be brought to the immediate superior who has given the contested measure and must also be filed within 5 days of notification in a subsidiary of the appeal. In the latter case, if a replacement is totally or partially rejected, the record rises to the top accordingly. Internal appeals against acts of the President of the Republic, ministers of state, mayors, and chiefs from the decentralized public services are not applicable. In these cases, the remedy of no further administrative replacement applies.

What are the Formalities of the Claim of Unlawful Acts of the Regional Government?

Any individual may complain to the mayor against decisions or agreements of the regional governments that are deemed illegal, within thirty working days from the date of publication of the resolution or since the adoption of the agreement when they affect the interest of the region or its inhabitants.