The president of the Chamber of Deputies Alfredo Pacheco (PRM-National District) is confident the 419-clause Penal Code will pass in Congress before the end of the year. The Chamber of Deputies has just completed the reading of the Penal Code approved by the bicameral committee and the Senate. Now the bill passes to the floor for discussions and the reading of the dissident opinions. Then, if changes are not made, it will be sent to the Presidency for signing into law. If there is a change, the bill will return to the Senate for a yes or no to the changes, and then on to the Presidency. The Senate had passed the bill on 23 November 2021. President Luis Abinader gets 10 working days to pass the bill or veto it.
Over the past 20 years, the Penal Code bills approved by the Congress during the Leonel Fernandez and Danilo Medina administrations have been vetoed. Leonel Fernandez vetoed the bill once, Danilo Medina twice. In both instances, the refusal of the legislators to include the three grounds for abortion was objected.
When campaigning for President, Luis Abinader was in favor of the three grounds for abortion. Inclusive, his political party’s official position in Congress was in favor of the exceptions. Once President, Luis Abinader has been lukewarm on the issue saying it has divided the country and suggesting a referendum decide.
Critics say the Penal Code draft that passed in the Senate is a step backward from the Penal Code that is in effect. The new Penal Code also reduces charges for marital rape from 10 to 20 years to 4 to 10 years. It sets 20 years as the expiration date for corruption crimes, establishes separate military courts to judge criminal charges of the military, and releases political parties and churches from criminal responsibility. This at a time when for the first time in Dominican history the Public Ministry is presenting evidence of major corruption in government, involving the military, past government officers and church representatives.
Read more in Spanish:
El Caribe
El Dia
N Digital
La Cuestion
15 December 2021