Having been jumping through legal hoops for several years in DR I can tell you it can be all against you on the grounds you are foreign. Some things I experienced from magistrates, openly speaking of their dislike towards foreigners in DR you would not believe. To overcome this (as I did eventually) can be a long hard journey, and can be costly. If there is any chance that you would lose and have a way of avoiding it then I'd not even go there. Winning is expensive enough, to lose could be a financial disaster.
Inch and mile spring to mind.