The Attorney General for the Dominican Republic, Francisco Dominguez Brito greeted the around 750 prosecutors and judges that attended the first session of the Justice Department’s evaluation process over the weekend. The process for the prosecutors is being carried out in the UNIBE classrooms and at the National Justice Department School for the different attorneys general of the different courts.
All of the current prosecutors and district attorneys are classified as temporary employees according to Law 873-04, which was passed last August and their confirmation is pending the review.
Well-known jurist Aura Celeste Fernandez is directing the entire process. According to Fernandez, there will be several different tests, involving background checks and tests on legal matters as part of the first phase. Results will be available at the start of May.
The goal of the justice personnel is to obtain civil service status that guarantees them their jobs, no matter what changes occur in the administration. The object is to provide the country with prosecutors, district attorneys and judges that are not changed every four years, and provide these civil servants with the benefits of Law 78-03 that governs those with permanent status within the justice system.
Given that the testing is objective, knowledge, rather than political affiliation, is expected to prevail.
Dominican Attorney General Domingue Brito told reporters from the Listin Diario that the justice department will be able to fight crime with a higher degree of professionalism and efficiency because of the higher level of preparation that the different people – judges, prosecutors and lawyers – will obtain over the years in their posts, once they are not subject to cancellation with a change in government.