Criminal
Accusatorial Código Procesal Penal of 2002 with a 1884 Penal Code
The Código Procesal Penal, Ley 76-02, replaced the old inquisitorial procedure with an accusatorial and oral system, giving the Ministerio Público the investigative lead and introducing the juez de la instrucción as a guarantor of rights. The substantive Código Penal still dates from 1884 in its structure, and repeated attempts at wholesale replacement have not been enacted. Pre-trial detention is subject to a maximum duration, and the case must be brought within a statutory period or it is extinguished.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Juzgados de la Instrucción then Tribunales Colegiados; Suprema Corte on cassation
- Deadline — Detention before judicial review: 48 hours
- Deadline — Pre-trial detention: maximum 18 months, extendable in limited cases
- Deadline — Extinction of the criminal action: three years from the start of the investigation for most offences
Governing law
- Ley 76-02 Código Procesal Penal
- Código Penal de 1884, as amended
- Ley 10-15amending the CPP
- Ley 137-03trafficking in persons
In practice
The three-year extinction rule is the single most consequential feature of Dominican criminal procedure, because a prosecution that stalls simply dies, and defence strategy is often built around the calendar rather than the evidence. The 48-hour rule is constitutional as well as statutory, and detention beyond it without judicial authorisation renders the deprivation of liberty unlawful.