On Monday, 15 May 2017, the National Council of Magistrates (CNM) met for the first time in the last six years. It was a first for President Danilo Medina. The CNM is in charge of choosing the judges of the Constitutional Court, Superior Electoral Court, and the Supreme Court of Justice. Civil society and opposition parties are demanding the new judges not have a political affiliation.
The members of the Council of Magistrates of the Nation met for an hour at the office of President Danilo Medina at the Presidential Palace. Attending the first meeting were President Danilo Medina, Attorney General Jean-Alain Rodríguez, Supreme Court of Justice president Mariano Germán Mejía; Supreme Court of Justice judge Frank Euclides Soto Sánchez; the president of the Senate Reinaldo Pared Pérez and the president of the Chamber of Deputies Lucía Medina, both of the ruling PLD party, and opposition senator José Paliza and deputy Josefa Castillo, as representatives of the party with the second largest representation in Congress, both of the PRM.
During the first meeting the members decided to adopt a new ruling for the election of the judges for the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) and the Superior Electoral Court (TSE). They also decided to postpone for the end of the year the replacement of the Constitutional Court judges. The CNM members also agreed that a technical team head by legal advisor to the President, Flavio Darío Espinal, would examine CNM proposals. President Danilo Medina was named spokesman for the CNM. Likewise, the members agreed that a standard form be used to present the profiles of the aspirants to be judges in the high courts.
The eyes of political and social sectors across the country are looking to see what the outcome of the meeting will be, as its task is to elect all the judges for the Superior Electoral Court for a new period. The ruling PLD party is majority in the CNM. The main opposition party, the Revolutionary Modern Party (PRM) headed by Andres Bautista, has said that it is up to President Medina to decide on the democratic climate for the 2020 elections and whether he will install “a dictatorship”. The CNM will choose the replacements of the five judges of the TSE: Mariano Rodríguez, Mabel Féliz Báez, José Manuel Hernández Peguero, John Guiliani, and Fausto Marino Mendoza.
In addition to the calls for new judges in the Superior Electoral Court, the CNM was convened to choose at least four judges in the Supreme Court of Justice. Those that need to be replaced are Judge Julio Castaños Guzmán, who resigned to take on his new responsibility as president of the Central Electoral Board (JCE), and Judge Martha Olga García Santamaría and Dulce Rodríguez de Goris, given that they have reached the retirement age for judges (75 years). Judge Víctor José Castellanos has stated he would like to retire, citing health reasons.
Secretary general of the Social Christian Reform Party (PRSC), Ramón Rogelio Genao, has said that the current 17 members of the Supreme Court of Justice should have their performance evaluated due to changes scheduled for 2018, although those who have performed well, he stated, could of course stay as members, whereas others could be replaced.
The CNM members agreed to postpone for the end of the year the review of the 13 judges of the Constitutional Court and the replacement of the four judges whose terms expire on 22 December 2017. These judges were elected in 2011 to serve six-year terms.
Representatives of the Green March Movement warn that judges will not act with independence if the judiciary continues to be controlled by the Presidency and the political committee of the ruling PLD party. The Green March Movement promotes an end to impunity in the Dominican Republic.
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Diario Libre
Diario Libre
7 Dias
16 May 2017
