The head of the Roman Catholic Church in the Dominican Republic, Archbishop of Santo Domingo, Cardinal Nicolas de Jesús López Rodríguez favors the establishment of an age limit of 75 years for judges. The Supreme Court seeks that retirement be an option exercised voluntarily by the judges. The Supreme Court of Justice opposes limiting the age of the judges. Indeed, of the Supreme Court judges, three would have to retire by next year. These are judges Julio Genaro Campillo Pérez, Hugo Alvarez Valencia, and Margarita Altagracia Tavares Vidal. The Senate proposed that present judges be allowed a five year term, and that others be obliged to retire once they are 75 years old. All the members of the Supreme Court are recent appointees after the old judges had to be retired for senility. The establishing of an age limit seeks to impede this situation from repeating itself.
