NewsWhore
09-30-2009, 05:20 PM
Diario Libre editor Adriano Miguel Tejada believes that institutional progress should be kept out of political deals, but writes about a recently approved change that he says represents a setback for justice in the DR.
He claims that the new Constitution has taken a retrograde step when it comes to state prosecution. The political party leadership agreed that the President has the prerogative to appoint and replace any prosecutor. The Fernandez judicial reform had permitted advances for prosecutors to receive training and become career officials, but now the President can replace them at any moment. "The message could not be more perverse," writes Tejada. "What they are telling the prosecutors, in these times of war on drug trafficking is, 'Go grab all you can because you don't know how long you will be kept in the job!'"
He makes the point: "And all, apparently, because future Presidential Palace incumbents want to have a free hand to allocate jobs. "
He goes on to ask, "How can the PLD agree to destroy one of their best contributions? Is it because everything in this country is negotiable?"
For years, civil society groups have called for independence of the prosecuting arm of justice. This was only partially achieved, with some progress made in training career prosecutors. However, this political decision means a major setback for the judiciary.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#3)
He claims that the new Constitution has taken a retrograde step when it comes to state prosecution. The political party leadership agreed that the President has the prerogative to appoint and replace any prosecutor. The Fernandez judicial reform had permitted advances for prosecutors to receive training and become career officials, but now the President can replace them at any moment. "The message could not be more perverse," writes Tejada. "What they are telling the prosecutors, in these times of war on drug trafficking is, 'Go grab all you can because you don't know how long you will be kept in the job!'"
He makes the point: "And all, apparently, because future Presidential Palace incumbents want to have a free hand to allocate jobs. "
He goes on to ask, "How can the PLD agree to destroy one of their best contributions? Is it because everything in this country is negotiable?"
For years, civil society groups have called for independence of the prosecuting arm of justice. This was only partially achieved, with some progress made in training career prosecutors. However, this political decision means a major setback for the judiciary.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#3)