Senate to study Minors Code

This week the Senate Justice Commission will begin its examination of the changes introduced by the Chamber of Deputies to the Code for Minors and that increased sentences for minors in conflict with the law.

The commission, which is chaired by Senator Francis Vargas (PLD-Puerto Plata) will meet this Wednesday morning, 3 October to "analyze the pending initiatives" within which the modification of the Code for Minors stands out. As reported in Diario Libre, the changes would entail increasing maximum sentences for minors between the ages of 13 and 15 from 3 to 10 years of jail, and 5 to 15 years for young people between the ages of 16 and 18 who commit crimes. The commission will prepare a calendar for consultations with institutions that work with minors and for public hearings in order to listen to everyone who wants to give an opinion on the legislative proposal whose modification has caused confrontations between diverse sectors of society.

The coordinator of the Juvenile Pastoral movement, Father Luis Rosario argues for the implementation of concrete preventive measures aimed at ending criminal actions by minors. He commented that although the behavior (referring to the crimes committed) of "some minors" has worsened over time, it is not right to "maximize the problem." The dean of the Faculty of Judicial and Political Sciences at the UASD, Antonio Medina, said that criminal activity is a complex phenomenon, involving many factors. "I am in favor of the concept which suggests that increasing the penalties does not reduce crime."

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