The case of Juliana Deguis has been heard in local and international courts. It brought great pressure to bear on the Dominican government, because local officials had revoked the Dominican citizenship of Deguis, who is the daughter of Haitians who were, in reality, undocumented residents of the Dominican Republic. She was declared to be Dominican on her original birth certificate, but later this was revoked by the courts. The case was heard in the Inter American Human Rights court, who challenged the Dominican court’s decision. Then the Constitutional Tribunal issued ruling 168-13 which noted that Dominican citizenship is obtained by birth to Dominican parents, or by birth in the Dominican Republic when the parents are legal residents. The Constitution specifically rejects citizenship to children born to persons “in transit” in the country. This phrase has been passed down from much earlier constitutions and is interpreted differently. The new Constitutional Court interpreted in transit as a person who had not regulated the residence status.
However, attending to the Constitutional Court’s decision, the Congress passed Law 169-14 authorizing procedures by which persons who had irregularly obtained legal residence, naturalization and citizenship for any nationals of any country currently in the Dominican Republic and others who claimed Dominican citizenship could achieve this. Birth records as far back as 1927 were examined, and some 2,000 cases were found where the new grounds for regularization would apply.
The Supreme Court’s recent decision rejects an appeal by Deguis to annul the previous decision to annul the validity of the 1984 birth certificate.
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Listin Diario
21 March 2021