DR1 Daily News - Dominican Republic

After a grinding five-hour session where each of the 413 articles contained in the legislative proposal were read out loud, the Senate gave a standing and unanimous approval to the reformed Penal Code last week. It is expected that on Tuesday, 15 July 2025 there will be a second reading and approval, and the proposal will be sent to the Chamber of Deputies for their approval.

Given the fact that a joint committee from both houses of Congress has issued a favorable opinion on the bill, passage is expected to be fairly routine. The senators argue the revised code strengthens combating corruption and other modern offenses. The senators say 72 new crimes were categorized, such as genocide, war crimes, terrorism, killing for hire, feminicide, and human trafficking.

The senators say now a criminal convicted of various crimes will accumulate a sentence of up to 60 years...