The Cámara de Diputados (Chile's lower house) on Wednesday approved the joint committee report on the Reglas de Uso de la Fuerza (RUF, Rules on the Use of Force) by 111 votes in favor, 23 against and 5 abstentions. The joint committee brings together deputies and senators to resolve differences between the two chambers. The text needs only approval from the Senado (Chile's upper house) to become law.
According to La Tercera, the bill has been in the legislative process for more than three years. Gabriel Boric's government introduced it in April 2023. If the Senado passes it, it would be the second initiative of the Agenda against Organized Crime and Terrorism to become law. According to Radio Universidad de Chile, the upper house was expected to begin reviewing it at 16:00 that same Wednesday.
The RUF set a common framework regulating how police and military personnel may use force. Today, many of these rules are scattered across decrees, circulars and protocols of varying legal rank. The text sets out eight rules of conduct, ranging from deterrent deployment and communication to the use of potentially lethal weapons.
The bill includes the use of shotguns with riot-control ammunition in the face of serious and imminent threats to life or physical integrity. In addition, uniformed personnel who comply with the rules will be covered by the exemption for fulfillment of duty provided for in the Código Penal (Penal Code). Those who depart from the rules will remain liable.
The most debated point was potentially lethal force. The committee approved the Executive's wording: it may be used only when lower levels of force prove insufficient. It is justified by fulfillment of duty, self-defense, a court order, the detention of someone resisting authority, to prevent an escape, or to protect critical infrastructure in serious danger.
The committee also removed several articles. Among them were the express prohibition of torture and the protection of children and adolescents, because those matters are already regulated in treaties and other laws. Article 13, which prohibited the use of force against arrested or detained persons, was also dropped.
Minister of Public Security Martín Arrau defended the agreement. "The rules that will guide those who exercise legitimate force on behalf of the State must not be a law of political trench warfare", he said on the floor.
The governing coalition backed the report. Republican deputy Luis Fernando Sánchez called it a complement to the Ley Naín-Retamal (Naín-Retamal Law). Luis Pardo (RN) said the text "does not give free rein" and provides legal certainty. Eduardo Cretton (UDI) described it as a "guarantee and not a straitjacket".
The Frente Amplio and the Partido Comunista voted against. Deputy Lorena Fries (FA) criticized a law that "widens force and narrows accountability". Marcos Barraza (PC) charged that the text lowers the threshold for using lethal force when no life is in danger.
From the Democracia Cristiana, Álvaro Ortiz supported having a law but questioned the provision on lethal weapons to protect critical infrastructure. In his view, that scenario departs from the United Nations standard and could shift the debate over its limits to the courts.
The bill had been in joint committee since May 12, 2025, when at least 10 of its provisions were rejected. The Senado now has the final say. If it approves the bill, the text will be sent on for promulgation.
