The Constitutional Court says the Judicial Power Council can only order virtual sessions for administrative matters. In a ruling, the Constitutional Court invalidated virtual hearings.
The president of the Supreme Court of Justice, Luis Henry Molina has been spearheading the use of online technology for judicial cases. The Judicial Power Council that Molina presides had expected to continue to expand virtual hearings as part of the general modernization of the judicial branch of government.
The Constitutional Court explains the virtual hearings authorized by Resolution 007-2020 of the Supreme Court of Justice are in violation of the independence of the powers of the state, the organization of the state and the role of the Judiciary Power Council.
The Constitutional Court ordered leaving without effect the virtual hearings and called for the Council of the Judicial Power to issue a new resolution that authorizes virtual meetings for administrative matters, not those of juridical nature.
The Constitutional Court says the electronic signature in the Judicial Branch needs to be limited to administrative matters.
The Constitutional Court gives a term of three months, after the publication of the sentence, for the Supreme Court of Justice to implement the provisions.
The decision is in response to eight actions of unconstitutionality against the resolutions issued by the Judicial Power Council in the framework of the restrictions due to the pandemic. Among the plaintiffs is the Bar Association of the Dominican Republic.
The decisions of the Constitutional Court are unappealable and of mandatory application.
Read more in Spanish:
El Dia
6 August 2021