The Constitutional Tribunal, by means of Resolution TC012013-0009, has ruled to annul seven articles of the Expression and Diffusion of Thought Law dating back to 1961 (Ley Difusion Pensamiento 61-32) decriminalizing press defamation in the Dominican Republic.
The Constitutional Tribunal ruled that Arts. 30, 31, 34, 37, 46, 47 and 48 of Law 6132 violated the Constitution.
The tribunal was acting in response to the Fundacion Prensa y Derecho and several leading journalists including Listin Diario director Miguel Franjul, Osvaldo Santana of El Caribe and Rafael Molina Morillo of El Dia who presented a case challenging the articles for violating the Constitution. The journalists said that the threat of imprisonment for anyone who incurred in crimes of defamation and slander was a “mockery” and “intimidation” and “a sword of Damocles” of press freedom. They claimed that the articles promoted a climate of lack of transparency among politicians that translated into an environment that in turn promoted administrative corruption.
The Society of Newspaper Dailies of the Dominican Republic expressed satisfaction at the ruling but said they were still waiting to hear the Constitutional Tribunal’s opinion on articles 368, 369, 370, 371 and 372 of the same Law 6132 that also undermines the freedom of the press. The Society hopes that all criminal defamation and insult laws will also be eliminated when the Penal Code returns to Congress for its amendments.
http://www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2016/02/21/408662/el-tc-anula-siete-articulos-ley-difusion-pensamiento
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/justicia/sociedad-dominicana-de-diarios-satisfecha-con-decision-del-tribunal-constitucional-LG2811379
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/justicia/prensa-no-sera-responsable-de-difamacion-establece-el-tribunal-constitucional-CH2810466
https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/ELECTRONIC/83343/91947/F1965099340/DOM83343.pdf
http://www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2016/02/22/408751/satisface-a-diarios-sentencia-del-tribunal-constitucional
