President Luis Abinader is set to preside the reshaping of the Dominican Republic’s highest court, with the power to renew virtually the entire Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) bench over the next six months, Diario Libre reports.
The National Council of the Magistracy (CNM), which Abinader chairs, is charged with evaluating and appointing 16 of the 17 of the SCJ judges. This process gives the current administration, whose party holds three of the CNM’s eight votes, significant influence over the future of the judiciary.
The first round of critical judicial evaluations begins in October 2025. The CNM will assess four judges appointed in July 2017 whose original seven-year terms technically expired in July 2024. These judges have been serving more than a year past their expected end date.
Only one, Blas Rafael Fernández Gómez, has publicly stated he will not seek reappointment, guaranteeing at least one new face on the SCJ and the Judicial Council. The other three are serving their first term and are eligible for a second.
The CNM must also fill the SCJ seat vacated by Napoleón Estévez Lavandier, who became president of the Constitutional Court (TC) in 2023. Additionally, the Council must select four new magistrates for the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE), whose four-year terms ended in July 2025.
Diario Libre reports that the second, and potentially more sweeping, phase is scheduled for April 2026. At that time, 12 judges sworn in by former President Danilo Medina in 2019 will complete their seven-year terms.
This group includes Luis Henry Molina, the current president of the high court. While nine of these judges —including Molina— are eligible for re-election, three have already completed their two-term limit and must be replaced: Fran Euclides Soto Sánchez, Francisco Antonio Jerez, and Manuel Ramón Herrera Carbuccia.
The CNM’s mandate requires a legal justification to separate any judge eligible for re-election. Decisions hinge on performance evaluations that scrutinize a judge’s:
• Integrity, impartiality, and independence
• Objectivity and discipline
• Quantity of sentences produced
• Average case-to-verdict time
• Recusations filed and accepted
The current evaluation schedule follows a history of delays. The CNM’s inaction has resulted in some judges —such as the four currently up for review— serving a substantial time beyond their original mandate. Under the CNM’s Organic Law, judges remain in office until their successors are chosen or they are confirmed, a provision that has contributed to the current backlog.
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Diario Libre
30 September 2025