The Foundation for Institutionality and Justice (Finjus), a non-profit, non-partisan organization promoting the establishment of an independent and efficient judiciary in the Dominican Republic, favors that there be a “de-concentration” of the power of the Supreme Court, as reported in Hoy newspaper. Speaking for the organization, the president of the board of directors of Finjus, Fabiola Gonzalez Garcia recommended that justices over the age of 75 be retired automatically, as has been established in the law that governs the Judicial Service. She spoke yesterday during an event that celebrated the 14th anniversary of the institution. Present at the event were the chief justice of the Supreme Court Jorge Subero Isa, Attorney General of the Dominican Republic Francisco Dominguez Brito, the PUCMM rector, Monsignor Agripino Nunez Collado and the Spanish ambassador, Maria Figa-Lopez Palop.
The current structure of the justice system does not guarantee the efficient decision making process, creating an organizational model that promotes excessive role-playing by the magistrates.
FINJUS also wants to rebuild the National Council of Magistrates in order that its decisions are not contaminated by strategies coming from the different political parties. They would like for more members to participate in the council, expanding this to include representatives from the appellate courts, the courts of first instances as well as meritorious academic figures. The Finjus study recommends that the council itself be chosen in a transparent and less arbitrary manner.
The positions are explained in the recently released study entitled: The Re-launching of the Judicial Reform.