Acting President Raquel Peña swore in on Friday, 28 December 2023, the president of the Constitutional Court (TC) and four other new judges of the 13 court plenary. President Luis Abinader was on vacation in New York City with his family.
The judges were sworn in the Las Cariátides room of the Presidential Palace, one day after the term of the five outgoing judges expired. The outgoing judges had served 12 years in office and were part of the first group that formed the plenary session of the TC in 2012.
The newly sworn judges are Napoleón Ricardo Estévez Lavandier, president; Fidias Federico Aristy Payano, Amaury Reyes Torres, Sonia Díaz Ynoa and Army Esperanza Ferreira Reyes, completing the court. They are selected for nine-year terms.
During the swearing-in, Peña recognized the work of the outgoing judges, including outgoing president, Milton Ray Guevara. She expressed confidence the new judges will work to strengthen the institution, maintain the balance and promote legal security.
The new judges replace Milton Ray Guevara, president, and judges Rafael Diaz Filpo, Lino Vásquez Samuel, Pedro Justo Castellanos and Víctor Joaquín Castellanos.
The new judges were selected after a process that lasted almost two months and included the assessment of 113 applicants.
At the time of his election to preside the Constitutional Court, Estévez was a judge of the first Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice. He is a graduate in law from the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) and has a master’s degree in constitutional law and constitutional procedure.
In his swearing-in speech, Napoleón Estévez Lavandier committed to defending the sovereignty, nationality and fundamental rights of Dominicans. “This TC reaffirms today to the Dominican people that, with the Constitution in hand, as a sacred tool, the court will always defend, protect and overcome sovereignty, nationality, human dignity, fundamental rights, constitutional order and democracy, having as its only limit to respect the division of powers in the state,” he stated.
In his first speech as president of the TC, Judge Estévez Lavandier expressed the honor and great responsibility to be invested as president of the Constitutional Court of the Dominican Republic. He said he accepted the challenge with humility and with deep gratitude.
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Constitutional Court
Hoy
Diario Libre
El Dia
3 January 2024