A new penal code goes into effect today in the Dominican Republic. The new judicial framework replaces the 120-year-old code that was translated and adapted from French laws back in 1884. The new code, which was ratified on 19 July 2002, is inclined more to a US model of justice, even going steps beyond in regards to human rights. Various sectors have said the new code is too easy on criminals, in view of the numerous constitutional guarantees that have been instated. Defendants of the new code say it will expedite justice and cut through much red tape.
Supreme Court leader, Judge Jorge Subero Isa, last week called the new system “revolutionary” and says the magistrates are ready for the change.
Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito has similarly spoken out in support of the new penal code. On the Channel 11 program D’Agenda, produced by journalist Hector Herrera Cabral, the attorney general said the new code will dispense with the practice of arresting people who two weeks later may be released without any formal charges placed against them. He said that judges, prosecutors and lawyers have been receiving training on the laws’ implementation over the past two years.
Diario Libre says that the most radical change involved is that the National Police will be a subordinate of the judicial system, i.e. judges and prosecutors. “The code requires that lawyers and judges study the law and it changes the rules of procedures. That inspires fear,” writes the newspaper in an editorial today, while it encourages the country to bet on the success of the new code.