The Judicial Branch Council (CPJ) has ordered the dismissal of bailiff (process server) Leivy Altagracia Nunez Diaz of the Penal Chamber of the Appeals Court of Santo Domingo, for her actions during an incident described as an “assault/embargo” against Diario Libre newspaper in October 2014. The government agency that reports to the Judicial Branch accepted the recommendation by Justice Officials Division, which ruled that the court official’s behavior and the procedures she carried out were unlawful.
The interim director general of the General Directorate of the Administrative Career and the Judicial Career, Justiniano Montero also recommended that Nunez Diaz should be dismissed for committing serious errors in the exercise of her duties. The decision was taken after an investigation into the bailiff/process server’s conduct was assessed. Nunez Diaz went to the Diario Libre offices on Av. Lincoln in Santo Domingo with a group of protesters without a permit from the Police. The CPJ confirmed that the court official did not notify the company of the decision that had been issued against it. They also proved that the process server appeared after executing the “assault/embargo” on Diario Libre, and gave, as notification, a copy of the document that was thrown into the reception area, considering it to have been received, with the name of a person with whom she never had contact. The CPJ also ruled that the official had violated the Law of Judicial Organization, the Code of Civil Procedures, the Judicial Branch Code of Ethics and the basic rules that govern the conduct of the process servers during the exercise of their functions.
Nunez Diaz was suspended and submitted to an administrative disciplinary trial, where it was proven that her actions came close to “rampant” illegality. In October 2014, the CPJ decided to suspend Nunez Diaz until the end of the disciplinary process. The decision was notified to the bailiff in a letter signed by Montero. Nunez Diaz received the communication that same day, 14 October, as recorded in the copy of the letter in the hands of Diario Libre.