Santo Domingo. – The Senate approved in a single reading the modifications made to the Organic Law Project of the Criminal Procedure Codesent by the Chamber of Deputies.
The legislative regulations were submitted by the senators, Cristóbal Venerado Castillo, Félix Bautista, Antonio Taveras Guzmán and Omar Fernández.
Among the main advances of this piece, the guarantee of fundamental rights and due judicial process stands out, since it takes into account the protection of the dignity of the person and the right to personal integrity.
Furthermore, its approval responds to the need to modernize justice, which seeks greater speed, transparency and efficiency of processes, establishing a system of defining roles among its actors.
During the presentation of the piece, the president of the Senate, Ricardo de los Santos, highlighted the willingness of the legislative body he presides to continue contributing from the Senate, providing society with laws that promote the guarantee of fundamental rights and the norms established in the Constitution of the Republic.
In his presentation, standing and from his seat, De los Santos called on Dominican society to make objective criticisms when making judgments about the project.
Likewise, the president of the Senate recognized the work carried out by the commission that was in charge of the study and analysis of the articles to be modified, which was chaired by Senator Antonio Manuel Taveras Guzmán and composed of senators, Rafael Barón Duluc, Omar Fernández Domínguez, Santiago José Zorrilla, Franklin Romero Morillo, Alexis Victoria Yeb, Pedro Catrain Bonilla, Félix Ramón Bautista Rosario and Aracelis Villanueva Figueroa.
To approve this project, the Special Commission spent a day of 14 meetings, while the subcommittee met about 18 times and the technicians spent four days, for a total of 118 hours of work.
ABOUT THE MODIFICATIONS
The modifications to the Criminal Procedure Code consist of 60 articles, many of which are related to the deadlines for exercising rights, actions and resources to reach a decision in the criminal process, in accordance with Law No. 74-25, of August 3, 2025, which establishes the Penal Code of the Dominican Republic.
Also, the budgets were expanded to determine the roots of the accused person and their possible measure of coercion; they guarantee the right of defense and judicial control; defines the scope of the functions of the judge of the execution of the sentence and precision of the concept of natural judge; and establishes the strengthening of the protection of the fundamental right to freedom, the right to due information and the norms that make up due process.
The new Criminal Procedure Code establishes measures that are based on the principle of minimal criminal intervention; and establishes the legality of the procedural rules, which are immediate action, except when they disadvantage the accused, and the speed of the process through agreements during all stages.
