E/CN.4/2000/9/Add.1 page 8 judiciary and the Public Prosecutor’s Office and any threats and attempts on their lives should be investigated. Likewise, provision should be made for the effective protection of witnesses in proceedings involving human rights violations. 33. Comparatively large budget increases had been allocated to the justice system following the establishment of the Office of the Attorney-General of the Nation (Fiscalía General de la Nación). The Technical Investigation Unit, which had been assigned the functions of a judicial police force, was part of the Attorney-General’s Office and was overseen by judges and public prosecutors, in accordance with article 313 of the Penal Code. Article 312 of the Code made an exception, allowing actions to be brought directly when criminals were caught in flagrante delicto. However, when it came to criminal investigation, the Unified Action Groups for the Freedom of Individuals (GAULAs) operated under the instructions of the Attorney-General’s Office, the point of that arrangement being to guarantee that their actions were in keeping with the law and duly judicially sanctioned. Members of the Judicial Police Section (SIJIN) and the National Judicial Police and Investigation Department (DIJIN) of the National Police and the Administrative Security Department also performed judicial police functions under the supervision of a public prosecutor once criminal proceedings started. 34. Regarding the autonomy of provincial and departmental branches of the Procurator-General’s Office, the Government said that since the system started in 1991 an Administrative Coordinator had been operated in 27 of the 32 departmental branches with budgetary resources provided directly from the General Treasury of the Nation. The system had not been adopted at the other five branches because of their size. Additionally, monitoring bodies have been provided with increased financial support. 35. The Government announced that the regional justice system had come to an end in 1999: an approved plan to that effect had been forwarded to the Congress as a matter of urgency. Furthermore, the Government was “aware that although the regional justice system had ended, the criminal classification of terrorism would have to be redefined”. This would be part of the task of the Committee for the Reform of the Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and the Penitentiary Code. With respect to allegations from non-governmental sources that the previous rules were still in force owing to the Constitutional Court’s decision striking down the statutory provisions providing for the anonymity of witnesses and prosecutors (E/CN.4/1998/38, para. 58), the Government explained that the 1991 Decree-Law was subject to the same court decision; the Attorney-General’s Office could guarantee anonymity in individual cases, substantiating its actions. However, anonymity was not extended to judges. The Court had found the rule preventing law-enforcement officials from acting as secret witnesses unjustifiable and discriminatory, and therefore unconstitutional. 36. Action had been taken to guarantee the protection of members of the judiciary and the Public Prosecutor’s Office: installation of security equipment and devices, such as closed circuit television and metal detectors; provision of armoured vehicles, escorts and outriders for high-risk officials; and training for escort personnel, judges, prosecutors and attorneys potentially at risk. Information was given on the continuation of the training programme and the supply and installation of basic security features at courts and judicial premises throughout the country.