Anti-Graffiti Law, A Law Without A Bite

To some graffiti is art, to others, like legislators, it is vandalism and as such have proposed a bill to regulate graffiti paintings, to bring order but does not sanction disorder.



The anti-graffiti bill was born out of the Comisión de Asuntos Jurídicos del Congreso (Legal Affairs Committee of Congress), to the point that legislators gave approval to the plan, though they could not reach a consensus on the sanctions.

The original proposal included stiff fines and possible jail sentences to anyone who engaged in graffiti painting.

However, the Supreme Court rejected the bill, noting that it was inappropriate to create new penalties for this type of vandalism when a penalty was already included in the Criminal Code, which sanctioned the act for up to a 60 days fine.

Still, legislators approved the bill, but without the sanctions and penalties, leaving the law without a bite.

Carmen Muñoz, legislator for the Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC), who voted against the bill, told La Nacion, "this is a spontaneous act, so, how do you regulate it? People graffiti walls in vacant lots, abandoned buildings and usually at night".