NewsWhore
01-09-2009, 03:10 PM
Major debates are ongoing regarding a proposal that President Leonel Fernandez has included in the Constitution Reform bill to create a Constitutional Chamber and Judicial and State Council, after comments made by Supreme Court president Jorge Subero Isa on occasion of Judicial Branch Day events. Subero Isa in his speech commemorating the day said the new entities suggested by President Fernandez would create "inevitable conflicts between government branches and the chambers it proposes to create." He equated this to a dismemberment of the present system of administration of justice. Subero Isa favors the Costa Rican model, where the Constitutional Chamber is part of the Supreme Court of Justice.
Subero also said that the cost of putting a new structure into effect, as proposed by Fernandez in the Constitution Reforms bill, would cost the state RD$3.55 billion in the first year, an amount almost equal to the total allotted to the Judicial Branch this year.
National District prosecutor Alejandro Moscoso comments that discussions on the Constitutional Chamber should be focused on whether to create the new entity within the Supreme Court jurisdiction or outside it, as reported in Listin Diario. The new court would review Constitutional issues. Moscoso said it could be part of the Supreme Court of Justice, while maintaining independence of judgment. He said this is a model that operates successfully in Costa Rica, where decisions have been taken that overrule those taken by the Supreme Court of Justice.
Javier Cabreja, executive director of civil society organization Participacion Ciudadana agrees that the new institutions as proposed would create a branch parallel to the SCJ, generating confusion. As reported in Hoy, Cabreja said that it is true that there have been decisions by the judiciary that have been questioned, bringing about setbacks in the application of justice, such as restrictions on citizens' access to justice. "We need a judiciary that operates with equity, that is equal for all. "In the DR justice still does not operate that way", he said during the commemorative event for the Day of the Judicial Branch. He said that while the judiciary continues to show weakness there will be a lot of criticism, and called for a new wave of judicial reform.
The president of the Foundation for Institutionalism and Justice (FINJUS), Servio Tulio Castanos does not feel the new courts would dismember the current system. "I do not believe the creation of the hall would disarticulate the Judicial Branch because it is already in operation in many countries, and obviously in some it works better than in others". He said the trend is to eliminate the system where the assembly of Supreme Court judges has the last say on Constitutional issues. In his opinion, the argument that conflicts would be created is not valid. He said that conflicting issues is what constitutional justice is all about.
Constitutional expert Eduardo Jorge Prats believes that the new constitutional chamber should be independent of the Supreme Court judges, and expressed hope that this would constitute a mechanism for "ending the situation where the government is the leading violator of laws in our country." He backed the proposal that a model similar to Costa Rica's could be implemented in the DR. He said that Supreme Court of Justice president Jorge Subero Isa himself has said on several occasions that the Supreme Court needs a different leadership.
The president of the Senate, Reinaldo Pared Perez supports the Supreme Court of Justice president's view against a separate constitutional entity. The congressional bi-chamber commission says that the bill aimed at summoning the Review Assembly that would be in charge of modifying the Constitution is ready. He said the changes to the Constitution would be studied in an extraordinary legislature that would run through 25 February, as reported in Hoy.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#5)
Subero also said that the cost of putting a new structure into effect, as proposed by Fernandez in the Constitution Reforms bill, would cost the state RD$3.55 billion in the first year, an amount almost equal to the total allotted to the Judicial Branch this year.
National District prosecutor Alejandro Moscoso comments that discussions on the Constitutional Chamber should be focused on whether to create the new entity within the Supreme Court jurisdiction or outside it, as reported in Listin Diario. The new court would review Constitutional issues. Moscoso said it could be part of the Supreme Court of Justice, while maintaining independence of judgment. He said this is a model that operates successfully in Costa Rica, where decisions have been taken that overrule those taken by the Supreme Court of Justice.
Javier Cabreja, executive director of civil society organization Participacion Ciudadana agrees that the new institutions as proposed would create a branch parallel to the SCJ, generating confusion. As reported in Hoy, Cabreja said that it is true that there have been decisions by the judiciary that have been questioned, bringing about setbacks in the application of justice, such as restrictions on citizens' access to justice. "We need a judiciary that operates with equity, that is equal for all. "In the DR justice still does not operate that way", he said during the commemorative event for the Day of the Judicial Branch. He said that while the judiciary continues to show weakness there will be a lot of criticism, and called for a new wave of judicial reform.
The president of the Foundation for Institutionalism and Justice (FINJUS), Servio Tulio Castanos does not feel the new courts would dismember the current system. "I do not believe the creation of the hall would disarticulate the Judicial Branch because it is already in operation in many countries, and obviously in some it works better than in others". He said the trend is to eliminate the system where the assembly of Supreme Court judges has the last say on Constitutional issues. In his opinion, the argument that conflicts would be created is not valid. He said that conflicting issues is what constitutional justice is all about.
Constitutional expert Eduardo Jorge Prats believes that the new constitutional chamber should be independent of the Supreme Court judges, and expressed hope that this would constitute a mechanism for "ending the situation where the government is the leading violator of laws in our country." He backed the proposal that a model similar to Costa Rica's could be implemented in the DR. He said that Supreme Court of Justice president Jorge Subero Isa himself has said on several occasions that the Supreme Court needs a different leadership.
The president of the Senate, Reinaldo Pared Perez supports the Supreme Court of Justice president's view against a separate constitutional entity. The congressional bi-chamber commission says that the bill aimed at summoning the Review Assembly that would be in charge of modifying the Constitution is ready. He said the changes to the Constitution would be studied in an extraordinary legislature that would run through 25 February, as reported in Hoy.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#5)