Santo Domingo.- The president of the Constitutional Court, Milton Ray Guevara, warned that all courts, no matter how high they are or the place they hold in the judicial ladder, are subject to the Constitution.
He said that the first that has to submit to the Constitution is the Constitutional Court, so it is assumed that the others also, after affirming that no one is above the law, not even that high court.
He highlighted the work of the TC to counter authoritarianism, which he said has characterized Dominican history.
“All courts, no matter how high they are or because of the place they hold in the judicial ranks, are subject to the Constitution. The first that has to submit to the Constitution is the Constitutional Court and it is assumed that the others too”, emphasized Ray Guevara.
The president of the TC highlighted the background of Dominican constitutionalism and defended the value of constitutional justice in a country marked by authoritarianism and the deprivation of fundamental rights.
“The Dominican Constitutional Court was not created by enchantment, because we had, since the Constitution of 1844, articles 35 and 125 that established the diffuse control of constitutionality and, of course, the principle of supremacy of the Constitution,” Ray explained. Guevara.
The president of the TC made these statements when participating in the discussion “the challenges of jurisdictional power from the perspective of the presidents of the high courts”, together with the magistrates Luis Henry Molina, president of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ), and Ignacio Camacho, president of the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE); which was moderated by Flavio Darío Espinal.
“The Constitutional Court has developed a citizen jurisprudence and has been an instrument at the service of the Dominican people, said Ray Guevara.
“How many dictatorships, tyrannies, authoritarian governments has the Dominican Republic had? How can you harvest the tree of democracy, of freedom, in a tyrannical environment like the one we have experienced in different stages, not too far away, of Dominican history? ”, He questioned.
He highlighted the independence of the Constitutional Court by stating that no power has ever given it instructions on how its judges should rule on each decision.
“That is citizen justice and there has been no one to intervene to tell the court which way to go. That is the truth in this country where there are tendencies towards authoritarianism and really eliminating rights”, said the president of the TC.
