A judge has given General Augusto Pinochet the chance for a new appeal of his indictment on human rights charges.
Judge Gabriela Perez granted Pinochet's defence lawyers the right to file the appeal with the Santiago Court of Appeals, shortly after the former dictator was released from a military hospital.
General Pinochet, 85, can ask that the charges be dropped, claiming he is innocent or is too sick for trial.
Judge Perez is filling in for Juan Guzman, the judge seeking to try General Pinochet. Mr Guzman is in Europe, but his office refused to disclose further information or say when he would return to Chile.
General Pinochet, meanwhile, was released from the Santiago Military Hospital, where he had surgery to correct an unspecified "serious dental problem," hospital officials said.
Doctors also worked to stabilise Pinochet's blood sugar. The 85-year-old former ruler suffers from diabetes.
Judge Guzman indicted Pinochet last December on homicide and kidnapping charges connected to the "Caravan of Death," a military party that executed 75 political prisoners shortly after the 1973 coup in which General Pinochet ousted Marxist President Salvador Allende.
Eventually, however, the charges were dropped by the Supreme Court, which ruled Pinochet should instead be charged with covering up the crimes. Prosecution lawyers are seeking reinstatement of the original, more serious charges.
Mr Guzman turned down a request by Pinochet's defence to drop the charges, and Judge Perez, while upholding Mr Guzman's decision, gave the Pinochet defence a chance to appeal in court.
At least 3,200 people were killed or had disappeared for political reasons during his 1973-1990 dictatorship, according to government figures.