The Constitutional Court, the nation’s highest court, has stricken Law 1-24 that created the National Intelligence Agency. The case was brought before the high court by the People Force (FP) political party, the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), and the Dominican Liberations Party (PLD), citing unconstitutional aspects of the law. In decision TC/0767/24, the high court annulled the newly passed law.
The highly controversial legislation had been submitted to Congress by President Luis Abinader in 2023.
Nevertheless, legal advisor to the Presidency Antoliano Peralta explained that the Constitutional Court based its ruling on a procedural error during the legislative process of the law, without questioning its content or identifying any violations of fundamental rights. According to the ruling, the law was approved by both chambers with the necessary majorities, but failed to meet the required formalities for its convocation and treatment as an organic law.
Regarding the procedural flaw highlighted in the decision, the official stated that the Constitutional Court concluded that Congress did not expressly convene sessions as required to discuss an organic law, even though the law received broad support: 125 out of 126 votes in the Chamber of Deputies and 21 out of 25 in the Senate. This failure to follow proper procedure undermines the validity of the law, as organic laws require specific procedures under the Constitution and legislative regulations.”
The PLD and FP celebrated the annulment of the law by the Constitutional Court.
The ruling Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) is majority in Congress and would but need to resubmit the bill for its passing with the majority vote of the ruling party legislators. Diario Libre editorial on 9 December highlights the Constitutional Court missed out on an opportunity to also address the other issues the law has been criticized for.
Nevertheless, Peralta says that the National Congress is studying a proposal that would amend Law 1-24, with changes proposed by the government and civil society.
The Dominican Republic’s Constitutional Court (TC) did rule that the country’s National Intelligence Agency (DNI) has been granted excessive powers by Law 1-24, allowing it to collect sensitive information without proper authorization.
Servio Tulio Castaños Guzmán, a lawyer from the Finjus legal organization, explained that the law permitted the DNI to request sensitive information without the approval of a competent authority, violating citizens’ rights to privacy and due process.
The Executive Branch had argued that Law 1-24 provided the DNI with broad powers to gather information, including through covert activities and automatic access to public and private databases. The TC, however, deemed these powers disproportionate.
With this ruling, the TC ensures that legislation related to national security must respect fundamental rights and follow established procedures, especially when these directly impact citizens’ lives.
The controversial Article 11, which previously obligated all state agencies, private institutions, and individuals to provide information to the DNI, will be amended to clarify the necessary legal requirements for such requests.
Meanwhile, the Dominican Society of Newspapers (SDD) and a team of jurists have been working on amendments to the law that would be annulled by the Constitutional Court. SDD president Persio Maldonado explains that because the government delayed amending the law, the progress made will be lost since it’s impossible to modify a law that no longer exists.
Maldonado noted that the law was fundamentally flawed. Despite warnings from the SDD and other civil society groups, the government insisted that it was an ordinary law. Now the Constitutional Court has ruled that it should have been treated as an organic law, which requires larger approval margins. Maldonado indicated that the SDD is willing to work with the authorities to incorporate some of the aspects discussed in a special commission that studied the law.
Read more in Spanish:
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Listin Diario
Listin Diario
Hoy
El Caribe
El Dia
El Dia
9 December 2024