The Listin Diario published a front page story with the comments of a group of leading Dominican jurists on the issue of a constitutional reform regarding the permanent status of Dominican justices. Ramon Tapia Espinal, Mario Read Vittini, Fernando Hernandez Diaz, Jottin Cury, Manuel Berges, Ricardo Ravelo, Alejandro Debes, Marino Vinicio Castillo, Juan M. Castillo Pantaleon, Leonardo Conde Rodriguez, Antonio Emilio Ornes, Leila Roldan and David La Hoz said that there are flaws in the way the judicial system was reformed in 1996 and recommend that pondered and thoughtful modifications be carried out. They say it is an oversimplification to say that the appointment of the Supreme Court Justices for indefinite periods guarantees the independence, efficiency and impartiality of the judicial system. The jurists point out that in practice the decisions of low tier judges are affected by their obligation to the Supreme Court Judges their jobs. They point out that a justice of the peace, first instance or appeal court judge fear receiving an arbitrary sanction for contradicting the criteria of a Supreme Court judge. This is especially regarding important cases that may have been handled by the Supreme Court judges prior to their appointment as such. They remind citizens that the Supreme Court judges were appointed as the result of political negotiations. Hatuey de Camps, president of the ruling PRD party, confirmed he participated in the negotiations. They say that the problem of political interference in the appointment of judges can only be avoided if there are changes in who makes up the National Council of the Magistracy and mechanisms are implemented so that an objective evaluation is carried out to select the candidates. The jurists criticized the president of the Supreme Court of Justice who said that he would not heed any constitutional reform that would set a limit to the justices time on the job.
