The president of the Chamber of Deputies announced yesterday, Tuesday 11 June, that within two weeks the Lower House would take on the proposal to reform the Penal Process Code, which has been pending for several years and much requested by several sectors of society. Abel Martinez told El Nuevo Diario reporters that he has spoken to the commission responsible for producing the new version of the Penal Code, made up of jurists Jose Lorenzo Fermin, Ulises Bonnelly Vega, Pedro Balbuena and Juarez Castillo. According to Lorenzo Fermin, the changes to the Penal Code are aimed at fighting crime. One of the innovations they are proposing is equal penalties for the criminal mastermind as well as for the criminals who actually carry out the crime, with an accumulation of sentences of up to 60 years in exceptional cases. A single, 40-year sentence will be introduced for crimes that have a serious repercussion on Dominican society. The jurists also delivered a document produced during a seminar at the PUCMM, containing the suggestions that resulted from discussions in the National Congress.