The Dominican Bishops’ Conference called on legislators this Wednesday so that the draft law of the Penal Code be subjected to this extraordinary legislature and to be debated in the next ordinary legislature.
Through a statement, the bishops also asked citizens to support the project of Penal Codeconsidering that “at this time we need to join forces to give clear signs of democratic maturity.”
The bishops stated that in the face of the acts of violence that affect the country, it is urgent that the judicial system be able to count on a Penal Code updated, in order to be able to adequately and exemplarily punish the crimes that corrode the foundations of society.
“We, pastors of this Dominican people, see with great concern the acts of violence that, without being exclusive to our country, notably violate the dignity of our people, making difficult the coexistence that is so necessary in every society, since violent acts sow the misfortune and also the distrust among all”, they indicated.
They added that the Penal Code is one of the main legal instruments available to a State to regulate and protect the life and property of its citizens and that the project “has been going back and forth for much more than 20 years, passing from one legislature to another, without that its approval has been obtained”.
They considered that the approval of the Penal Code It would be one of the best gifts that can be given to the Dominican people in 2023.
extraordinary legislature
Last Friday and in order to learn about bills pending in the National Congress, President Luis Abinader called a extraordinary legislatureas empowered by the Constitution of the Republic.
Decree 3-23 summons the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies to meet in extraordinary legislatureuntil February 15.
Among the priority projects is the Public Trust, approved in second reading in the Chamber of Deputies, without holding debates and with the insistent rejection of the opposition parliamentary blocs of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) and Fuerza del Pueblo (FP).
Electoral Law
The president of the Chamber of Deputies, Alfredo Pacheco, stated that the bill to reform Organic Law 15-19, on the Electoral Regime, is the only major project that remains pending in that congressional wing and that it is well advanced, despite that it was received last December.
“In the Chamber of Deputies we are willing to hear about this and any other project that comes to us, as long as the legislature is open,” he said.
