The legislative proposal that seeks to regulate the practice of law in the DR has brought forth both support and rejection from lawyers, who are in favor of the establishment of new regulations for practicing law, and of empowering the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) to implement the proposal. Diario Libre interviewed legal experts Servio Tulio Castanos Guzman, the executive vice-president of the Institutionalism and Justice Foundation (Finjus), jurist Eduardo Jorge Prats, Unibe University Law School dean Jose Perez Gomez and College of Lawyers president Jose Diego Garcia on the bill sent to the Chamber of Deputies.
The main opposition to the proposal comes from Garcia, the president of the Dominican Bar Association, who said that the SJC was trying to destroy the association with the legislative proposal that he described as “disastrous.” “The SCJ’s intention to take control of the discipline of the legal professional compromises the sense of impartiality to the detriment of the proposal,” he said.
Another suggestion was made by Castanos Guzman, who said “there is no doubt that serious deficiencies are to be found at the university level, and I believe that everything should be analyzed, since we cannot concentrate on a proposal that is directed solely at regulating the practice of the profession. We should make the most of the opportunity to see how we can design an academic model that genuinely and effectively contributes to improving the academic level of our lawyers.” He added that he supports the evaluations of the lawyers and especially their training.
Jorge Prats also said he believed that the initiative was excellent, while suggesting that they should require the examination by jurisdiction (Justice of the Peace, First Instance, Appeals, SCJ, Higher Electoral Court and Constitutional Court), as is the case in France. The same thing should apply to the notaries public and the judicial interpreters.
Meanwhile, dean Perez Gomez, in his role as the executive director of the National Roundtable of Deans and Directors of Law Schools, has called a meeting of the group to learn about and discuss the nature, content and scope of the initiative that covers lawyers and notaries.
www.diariolibre.com/noticias/2014/01/30/i460521_apoyo-rechazo-por-proyecto-que-regula-ejercicio-del-derecho.html