The Fuerza del Pueblo of former President Leonel Fernandez chose senator-elect Omar Fernandez (President Fernandez’s son) and long-time deputy Tobias Crespo to be its representatives in the National Council of the Magistracy (CNM).
Other members of the CNM are President Luis Abinader; Alfredo Pacheco (PRM) as president of the Chamber of Deputies; Ricardo de los Santos (PRM), as president of the Senate; Luis Henry Molina, president of the Supreme Court of Justice. The Supreme Court of Justice has yet to confirm if judge Nancy Salcedo will again be chosen to the CNM.
President Luis Abinader said in his press conference on 12 August 2024 that he is asking Attorney General Miriam German Brito to stay in the position until Congress decides on whether it accepts his proposal for Constitutional reform that would remove the position of Attorney General from the CNM.
The law at present establishes that the members of the CNM are appointed in the following order: the President of the Republic, a senator from a different party than the one holding the presidency of the Senate, the president of the Chamber of Deputies, a deputy from a different party than the one holding the presidency of the Chamber, the president of the Supreme Court, a Supreme Court judge chosen by the Supreme Court, and the Prosecutor General of the Republic, who is chosen by the President of the Republic.
The CNM votes to confirm or change the judges of the higher courts, including the Constitutional Court, the Superior Electoral Court and the Supreme Court of Justice.
The President (Luis Abinader) or the Vice President (Raquel Peña) preside over the sessions of the CNM.
Once defined, the CNM will need to get to the task of choosing four Supreme Court justices whose seven-year terms are coming to an end. The CNM will also be tasked with selecting a replacement for Napoleón Estévez Lavandier, who recently assumed the presidency of the Constitutional Court.
The four justices, Blas Rafael Fernández Gómez, Pilar Jiménez Ortiz, Manuel Alexis Read Ortiz, and Moisés Alfredo Ferrer Landrón, were appointed by the CNM in 2017 and their terms ended on 21 July 2024. As mandated by the Dominican Constitution, Supreme Court Justices are subject to performance reviews every seven years. The CNM, once convened by President Luis Abinader, will determine whether these justices will be reappointed or replaced. The assessment is mandated to consider factors such as integrity, public image, intellectual capacity, and overall job performance.
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National Council of the Magistracy Law 138-11
Hoy
Diario Libre
13 August 2024