The movement Civic Citizen Participation warned this morning that with the amendment introduced by the Chamber of Deputies to the Law on Territorial Planning and Land Use, a conflict of a Constitutional nature is created that will most likely end up in the Constitutional Court.
Joseph Manuel Abreu, national coordinator of the entity, explained that article 24 introduced in the Lower House, after the project had already been agreed upon in the Bicameral Commission, subordinates the actions of the municipal districts to the municipalities, which would clash with the article 199 of the Constitution of the Republic that grants the same hierarchy to both bodies.
While the president of the Justice and Transparency Foundation, Trajano Vidal Potentini, also pointed out that the aforementioned article creates a legal conflict of competence, since municipal districts are discriminated against for the benefit of municipalities, an action that is prohibited in the Magna Carta.
Abreu, from Citizen Participation, said that the Territorial Planning Law project was well prepared by qualified technicians and agreed upon by the different sectors, which is why it is worrying that it now has to end in a constitutional conflict.
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He considered that said initiative, which was already converted into law last Tuesday by the Senate of the Republic, should be observed by the Executive Power due to its possible unconstitutionality.
“It is worrying that these changes that were submitted will generate a conflict for the autonomy of the municipal districts recognized in the face of the provisions of article 199 of the Constitution. It is something that should be observed even though the project is already law, the President has the power to observe it in this sense, although apparently due to the Senate’s ratification of the changes submitted by the Chamber of Deputies, it seems that there was already a political agreement in that sense and that it is very likely that the Executive Branch will respect it,” he said.
FJT
While Potentini, from the Justice and Transparency Foundation (FJT) said that the modification to the piece creates a constitutional crisis, since it discriminates against a State body such as municipal districts that have legal status in public law.
He explained that article 199 of the Constitution is clear when it establishes that municipalities and municipal districts are two different entities with legal status, their own assets as well as their own budgetary autonomy.
He explained that with the new law it will be possible to classify and qualify the land; develop standards that guarantee proper planning of the territory, as well as a sustainable growth of our demarcations.
Higuey case
He cited that in 2013 there was a similar conflict with the district of Bávaro and the municipality of Higuey, “the case was taken to the Constitutional Court and it ended up giving Higuey a win.”
“Apparently the TC understood that it is an error that must be corrected in article 199 of the Constitution that grants the same hierarchy to municipalities and municipal districts,” he said.
Potentini considered that perhaps the arrangement would be for the municipalities to commit to sharing their collections with the districts. He also said that it is the municipalities that have an urban planning department.
The letter
Article 199 of the Magna Carta establishes that the municipalities and municipal districts constitute the basis of the local administrative political system. They are legal persons of Public Law, responsible for their actions, enjoy their own assets and budgetary autonomy.
