A beginning hudge (Justice of the Peace) makes about 40,000 pesos a month. A Court of Appeals judge like Ulises Bonnelly, the last judge to resign, about 150,000. You should consider that a very qualified judge like Bonnelly (15 years in the system, with a doctorate in criminal law, author of a treatise on money laundering) could easily make 3 or 4 times that in the private sector. Also, promotions to the Supreme Court or the Constitutional Court are generally contingent on political connections.
Fortunately, being a judge in the DR is still not a hazardous occupation.
