2004 – Page 113

In what is probably not news to many families in the Dominican Republic, the statistics show that more than 80% of the criminal cases that enter the judicial system under the penal code are not completed and classified as ?prescription,? a term used to describe the cases that exceed the ?limitation of time beyond which …

Read more…

President Hipolito Mejia is scheduled to travel to Colombia on Wednesday for an 18-hour official visit. During his stay, he will be decorated with the Order of Democracy by the Colombian Congress and will have lunch with President Alvaro Uribe. This will mark Mejia?s 44th trip abroad during his presidency, a new record for Dominican …

Read more…

The first step for Hernani Salazar, the current director of the Presidential Office of Public Works Supervising Engineers, to obtain legal immunity has been taken. Salazar was a high profile activist for reelection of President Hipolito Mejia and the PPH faction of the PRD. Hoy newspaper reports that Julio (Machacho) Gonzalez resigned from his post …

Read more…

In her Listin Diario column today, Ana Mitila Lora demands an explanation from the Supreme Court of Justice on why Judge Anikssa Serra de la Mota was transferred to the remote border province of Elias Pina. She also asks why Serra?s court, the Sexto Juzgado de Instruccion, was dismantled on Friday, 30 July. The secretary …

Read more…

The Foundation for Institutionalism and Justice (FINJUS) requested transparency from the Supreme Court of Justice in all transfers of judges. As reported in El Caribe, FINJUS criticized the Supreme Court for not having made public its reasons for its transfer of five judges, Judge Serra?s among them. El Caribe says that the SCJ previously issued …

Read more…

One of the most important services used by the poor and middle classes in the Dominican Republic, public transport, has all but collapsed. Scarcities of propane gas and diesel, in addition to the governmental financial difficulties, are making hard times even more so for those who depend on public transport. El Caribe reports that only …

Read more…

Diario Libre reports that the scarcity problem is likely to continue. It explains that while a shipment with 43,000 barrels is expected, the president of the Dominican Refinery, Amaury Justo Duarte, says that it will not be enough to meet the demand. Furthermore, Coastal, the country?s second largest importer, said that it will not import …

Read more…

Eleven environmental and hotel organizations will claim that the new Sectoral Protected Areas bill, signed into law on 30 July by President Hipolito Mejia, violates the Constitution, as reported in Diario Libre. The organizations are seeking to convince the Supreme Court of Justice to annul the law. The institutions protesting the law are the National …

Read more…

As reported in Diario Libre, it appears that Globalia/Air Europa chief executive Juan Jose Hidalgo plans to take advantage of the new Sectoral Protected Areas Law recently signed into law by President Hipolito Mejia. Hidalgo will reportedly go ahead with the construction of a large resort on property he purchased within the limits of the …

Read more…

Economist Vicente Bengoa of the PLD transitional team said that according to the tax reform proposal submitted to the Congress by the PLD, neither credit card transactions nor workers retrieving their wages by way of automatic teller machines would be taxed. Nevertheless, reports Hoy newspaper, Bengoa admitted that the transactions carried out by companies using …

Read more…