Created by the 2010 Constitution and operational from 2011, it sits outside the ordinary judiciary and its rulings bind all public powers. It can annul a statute with erga omnes effect, which the Supreme Court could not previously do in the same way. Its 2013 ruling TC/0168/13 on the nationality of people of Haitian descent drew regional criticism and led to Law 169-14 to regularise affected persons.
How the court is constituted
- Tier
- constitutional
- Court type
- Constitutional court
- Jurisdiction
- Direct actions of unconstitutionality with general effect, review of amparo judgments, preventive review of treaties, and conflicts of competence between public powers.
- Seat
- Santo Domingo
- Established
- 2011
- Composition
- Thirteen judges serving a single nine-year term, which is non-renewable.
- Appointment
- Selected by the Consejo Nacional de la Magistratura through public hearings, a process designed to be more transparent than executive appointment.
- Languages
- Spanish
Where an appeal goes next
None. Its decisions are final and binding on all organs of the state.
Filing at this court
- Acción directa de inconstitucionalidad
- Open to the President, a third of either chamber, or any person with a legitimate interest
- Revisión de amparo
- Within five days of notification of the amparo judgment
Decisions worth knowing
- Sentencia TC/0168/132013
Held that children born in the country to parents without regular migratory status were not Dominican nationals, retroactively to 1929; prompted Law 169-14 and sustained international criticism.
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