Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) presidential candidate Luis Abinader proposes strengthening the independence of the public prosecutor’s office and the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) to improve the judicial system. On the occasion of the National Day of the Judiciary, Abinader issued a note with his proposals to strengthen the Dominican justice system.
Abinader favors a constitutional reform to be able to enact changes in the judiciary. He said he will convene the political and social sectors once he is elected President on 16 August 2020. Abinader is leading in the polls.
Abinader says he favors that the Attorney General of the Republic be chosen by the National Council of the Magistracy (CNM) for a six-year term, without the possibility of a second term. He also favors that only career judges preside over the SCJ. This is not the case with the incumbent SCJ president, Luis Henry Molina. Prior to his being elected by the National Council of the Magistracy (CNM) to preside the SCJ, Molina was the head of the Center for Export and Investment (CEI-RD) and the Dominican Telecommunications Institute (Indotel).
Abinader trusts that by achieving the independence of the public prosecutor, it will also be possible to remove politics from state prosecution.
He favored removing some of the current powers from the Executive Branch and assigning these to what would be a new Ministry of Justice under his administration. Under this vision, the Ministry of Justice would be responsible for: formulating and implementing the state’s criminal policy, supervising the prison system; representing the state in justicial proceedings; acting as the body responsible for legal representation before contentious-administrative courts; supervising the practice of the legal profession; coordinating the public defense service; and representing the state before international and judicial cooperation bodies, among other important functions.
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Listin Diario
Z101 Digital
El Nacional
8 January 2020