| DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Dominican Republic Republica Dominicana Joined United Nations: 24 October 1945 Human Rights as assured by their constitution Updated 08 January 2013 |
TITLE II
RIGHTS, WARRANTIES AND FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES
CHAPTER I
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
SECTION I
CIVIL RIGHTS AND POLITICAL
Article 37. - Right to life. The right to life is inviolable from conception until death. There shall be established, rule or applied in any case,
the death penalty.
Article 38. - Human dignity. The State is founded on respect for the dignity of the person and is organized for real and effective protection
of fundamental rights that are inherent. The dignity of the human being is sacred, innate and inviolable respect and protection is a core
responsibility of public authorities.
Article 39. - Right to equality. All people are born free and equal before the law, receive the same treatment and protection of institutions,
authorities and others and enjoy the same rights, freedoms and opportunities without discrimination on grounds of gender, color, age,
disability, nationality, family ties, language, religion, political or philosophical, social or personal. Accordingly:
1) The Republic condemns all privileges and status that tends to undermine the equality of the Dominicans and Dominicans, among whom
there must be no other differences than those resulting from their talents or his virtues;
2) No entity of the Republic may grant titles of nobility or hereditary distinctions;
3) The State shall promote the necessary legal and administrative measures to make equality real and effective and adopt measures to
prevent and combat discrimination, marginalization, vulnerability and exclusion;
4) The women and men are equal before the law. It prohibits any act that has the purpose or effect of impairing or nullifying the
recognition, enjoyment or exercise on an equal basis of the fundamental rights of women and men. It will promote the necessary
measures to ensure the eradication of inequalities and gender discrimination;
5) The State shall promote and ensure a balanced participation of women and men as candidates to elective office for direction and
decision-making bodies in public, in the administration of justice and in the bodies of state control.
Article 40. - Right to liberty and security of person. Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. Therefore:
1) No one shall be imprisoned or restrained of his liberty without written reasoned and competent judge, except in case of flagrante delicto;
2) Any authority custodial measures are required to identify themselves;
3) Every person, at the time of his arrest, will be informed of their rights;
4) Anyone who is arrested has the right to immediately contact their relatives, attorney or someone you trust, who have the right to be
informed of the place where the person arrested and the reasons for the arrest;
5) All persons deprived of their liberty shall be submitted to the competent court within forty-eight hours of his detention or release. The
competent judicial authority shall notify the applicant, within the same period, the decision is rendered that purpose;
6) All persons deprived of their liberty without cause or without legal formalities or outside the cases provided by law, shall be
immediately released at the request of you or anyone else;
7) Every person must be released after serving his sentence or a release order issued by the competent authority;
8) No one shall be subjected to measures of coercion but by his own act;
9) The coercive measures restricting personal freedom, exceptional and their application should be proportionate to risk trying to protect;
10) There shall be no physical constraint for the debt that is not from violation of criminal law;
11) Any person who has in his custody a prisoner is required to submit as soon as required by the competent authority;
12) It is prohibited the transfer of any detainees to a prison facility to another location without a written order from a competent authority
and motivated;
13) No one may be convicted or sentenced for acts or omissions at the time did not constitute a criminal or administrative offense;
14) No one is criminally responsible for the act of another;
15) No one shall be compelled to do what the law does not require or prevented from doing what the law prohibits. The law is equal for
all can only order what is right and useful to the community and can not prohibit more than it hurts you;
16) The imprisonment and security measures which are aimed at the rehabilitation and social reintegration of the convicted person and
shall not involve forced labor;
17) In the exercise of sanctioning powers established by law, public administration may not impose sanctions directly or subsidiary
involving deprivation of liberty.
Article 41. - Prohibition of slavery. Are prohibited in all their forms, slavery, servitude, trafficking and human trafficking.
Article 42. - Right to personal integrity. Everyone has the right to respect for their physical, mental, moral and to live without violence. It
will have state protection in cases of threat, risk or violation thereof. Accordingly:
1) No one shall be subjected to punishment, torture or degrading procedures involving the loss or impairment of health, or physical or
mental integrity;
2) It condemns violence and gender violence in any form.
The State guarantees by law the necessary measures to prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women;
3) No one may be subjected, without consent, to experiments and procedures that do not conform to standards internationally recognized
scientific and bioethics. Neither medical tests or procedures, except when it is life threatening.
Article 43. - The right to free development of personality. Everyone has the right to the free development of his personality, no limitations
other than those imposed by the legal system and the rights of others.
Article 44. - Right to privacy and personal honor. Everyone has the right to privacy. Ensuring respect and non-interference with privacy,
family, home and correspondence of the individual. The right to honor, good name and reputation. Any authority or individual that violates
or is obliged to compensate them repaired according to law. Therefore:
1) The home address and any private person are inviolable, except in cases that are ordered, in accordance with the law, by judicial
authority or in flagrante delicto;
2) Everyone has the right to access to information and data on it or its assets rest in official or private records, and know the destination
and the use made of them, within the limits set by the law. The processing of personal data and information assets must comply with the
principles of quality, legality, loyalty, security and purpose. May apply to the competent judicial authority to update, oppose the use,
modification or destruction of information affecting those rights unlawfully;
3) It recognizes the inviolability of correspondence, documents or private messages on physical formats, digital, electronic or any other
type. They may only be occupied, intercepted or recorded, by order of a competent judicial authority, by law in the conduct of affairs that
are aired on justice and preserving the secrecy of the private, not related to due process. It inviolable secrecy of telegraphic
communication, telephone, cablegram, electronic, telematic or established in another medium, except authorizations granted by judge or
competent authority, in accordance with the law;
4) The handling, use or processing of data and information from official authorities that collect the prevention, prosecution and
punishment of crime, should only be treated or communicated to public records, from who was involved with an opening proceedings in
accordance with law.
Article 45. - Freedom of conscience and worship. The State guarantees freedom of conscience and religion, subject to public order and
respect for decency.
Article 46. - Freedom of Transit. Any person who is in national territory is entitled to travel, live and free to leave the same, in accordance
with the laws.
1) No Dominican Dominican or be deprived of the right to enter the country. Neither can be expelled or missed it, except in cases of
extradition pronounced by competent legal authority under the law and international agreements on the subject;
2) Everyone has the right to seek asylum in the country, in case of persecution for political reasons. Those who are able to enjoy the
protection seekers to ensure the full exercise of their rights under the agreements, standards and international instruments signed and
ratified by the Dominican Republic. Not considered political crimes, terrorism, crimes against humanity, administrative corruption and
transnational crime.
Article 47. - Freedom of association. Everyone has the right to assemble for lawful purposes, in accordance with the law.
Article 48. - Freedom of assembly. Everyone has the right to assemble, without prior permission, lawful and peaceful purposes, in
accordance with the law.
Article 49. - Freedom of expression and information. Everyone has the right to freely express their thoughts, ideas and opinions, by any
means, without prior censorship.
1) Everyone has the right to information. This right includes search, seek, receive and impart information of all kinds, whether public, by
any means, channel or pathway, as determined by the Constitution and the law;
2) All the media have free access to official news sources of public and private, in accordance with the law;
3) The secrecy and the conscience clause of journalist are protected by the Constitution and the law;
4) Everyone has the right to reply and corrections when you feel aggrieved by information disseminated. This right shall be exercised in
accordance with the law;
5) The law guarantees equal access and plural of all social and political media owned.
Paragraph. - The enjoyment of these freedoms are exercised in accordance with the right to honor, privacy and the dignity and morality
of the people, especially the protection of youth and childhood, in accordance with the law and public order.
SECTION II
OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
Article 50. - Free enterprise. The State recognizes and guarantees free enterprise, trade and industry. Everyone has the right to freely
engage in economic activity of their choice, no limitations other than those prescribed in this Constitution and the laws establish.
1) Do not allow monopolies, except in favor of the State. The creation and organization of these monopolies will by law. The State
encourages and ensures the free and fair competition and adopt such measures as may be necessary to prevent harmful and restrictive
effects of monopoly and abuse of dominant position, establishing by law exceptions for cases of national security;
2) The State may enact measures to regulate the economy and promote national competitiveness plans and boosting development of the
country;
3) The State may grant concessions for the time and manner prescribed by law, in the case of exploitation of natural resources or the
provision of public services, ensuring the existence of adequate compensatory considerations or public interest and environmental balance .
Article 51. - Property rights. The State recognizes and guarantees the right to property. The property has a social function that implies
obligations. Everyone has the right to enjoy, enjoyment and disposition of property.
1) No person shall be deprived of his property, but for cause of public utility or social interest, upon payment of its fair value, determined
by agreement between the parties or judgment of a competent court, in accordance with the provisions of the law . In case of declaration
of State of Emergency and Defense, compensation shall not be prior;
2) The State shall promote, in accordance with the law, access to property, especially real property titled;
3) social interest is declared the allocation of land to useful purposes and phasing out the estate. It is a primary object of the social policy
of the state, promote land reform and effectively integrate the rural population to the national development process by encouraging
cooperation and for the renewal of their agricultural production methods and technology training ;
4) No political reasons confiscation of property of natural or legal persons;
5) Only be subject to seizure and forfeiture, by final judgment, property of individuals or corporations, domestic or foreign, that originate
in illegal acts committed against public property, as well as from the use or trafficking activities narcotic drugs and psychotropic
substances and related transnational organized crime and of any offense under the penal law;
6) The law shall establish the system of administration and disposition of seized and abandoned in criminal prosecutions and asset
forfeiture, under the law.
Article 52. - Intellectual property law. It recognizes and protects the right of exclusive ownership of scientific, literary, artistic, inventions
and innovations, trade names, trademarks, service marks and other productions of the human intellect by time, in the manner and within
the limits established by law .
Article 53. - Consumer rights. Everyone has the right to dispose of goods and services quality, objective, accurate and timely information
about the content and characteristics of products and services used or consumed, under the provisions and standards set by law. People
who are injured or damaged by goods and services of poor quality, are entitled to be compensated or compensated according to law.
Article 54. - Food Safety. The State shall promote research and technology transfer for the production of food and agricultural raw
materials, in order to increase productivity and ensure food security.
Article 55. - Right of the family. The family is the foundation of society and the basic space for the development of the whole person. It is
constituted by natural or legal ties, by the free decision of a man and a woman to marry or the responsible desire to form.
1) Everyone has the right to form a family, in whose formation and development of women and men enjoy equal rights and duties and
should be mutual understanding and mutual respect;
2) The State shall ensure the protection of the family. The family property is inalienable and indefeasible, in accordance with the law;
3) The State shall promote and protect the organization of the family on the basis of the institution of marriage between a man and a
woman. The law establishes the requirements for marriage, the formalities for their celebration, their personal effects and property, the
grounds for separation or dissolution, the property regime and the rights and duties between spouses;
4) Religious marriages will have civil effects in the terms established by law, subject to the provisions of international treaties;
5) The unique and stable union between a man and a woman, free of matrimonial, forming a de facto family, creates rights and duties in
their personal and property relations, in accordance with the law;
6) Motherhood whatever social or marital status of women, enjoy the protection of the public authorities and generates entitled to
government assistance in case of need;
7) Everyone has the right to recognition as a person, to a name, the surname of the father and mother and the identity of the same;
8) All persons have the right from birth to be registered in the civil registry free or the Book of Aliens and obtain public documents
proving your identity, in accordance with the law;
9) All children are equal before the law, have equal rights and duties and enjoy the same opportunities for social, spiritual and physical.
It prohibits any mention of the nature of the affiliation in civil registration and identity card at all;
10) The State promotes responsible parenthood. The father and mother, even after separation and divorce, have shared and inescapable
obligation to feed, raise, train, educate, maintain, provide security and assist their children. The law establishes the necessary and
appropriate measures to ensure the effectiveness of these obligations;
11) The State recognizes housework as an economic activity that creates added value and produces social welfare and wealth, so that will
be incorporated in the formulation and implementation of public policies and social;
12) The State shall, by law, safe and effective policies for adoption;
13) It recognizes the value of youth as key players in the development of the Nation. The State guarantees and promotes the effective
exercise of their rights, through policies and programs that ensure permanently their participation in all spheres of national life and, in
particular, their training and their first job.
Article 56. - Protection of minors. The family, society and the state, will prioritize the interests of the child or adolescent shall be required
to assist and protect them to ensure their full and harmonious development and the full exercise of their fundamental rights under the
Constitution and the laws.
Accordingly:
1) It is hereby declared the highest national interest the eradication of child labor and all forms of abuse and violence against minors.
Children and adolescents will be protected by the state against all forms of neglect, kidnapping, vulnerable state, abuse or physical
violence, psychological, moral or sexual commercial exploitation, labor, economic and dangerous work;
2) promote the active and progressive children and adolescents in the family, community and social;
3) Teenagers are active participants in the development process. The State, with the joint participation of families and society, create
opportunities to stimulate their productive transition into adulthood.
Article 57. - Protecting the seniors. The family, society and the state participate in protecting and assisting the senior citizens and will
promote their integration into working life and community. The State guarantees the services of integral social security and food subsidies
in connection with poverty.
Article 58. - Protection of persons with disabilities. The State shall promote, protect and ensure the full enjoyment of all human rights and
fundamental freedoms of persons with disabilities, on an equal footing, as well as the full and autonomous capabilities. The State shall
adopt positive measures necessary to promote their integration into the family, community, social, labor, economic, cultural and political.
Article 59. - The right to housing. Everyone has the right to decent housing with essential basic services. The State must establish the
conditions necessary for realizing this right and promote plans for housing and human settlements of interest. Legal access to real estate is
called a key priority of public policies to promote housing.
Article 60. - Right to social security. Everyone has the right to social security. The State shall encourage the progressive development of
social security to ensure universal access to adequate protection in illness, disability, unemployment and old age.
Article 61. - The right to health. Everyone has the right to comprehensive health care.
Accordingly:
1) The State shall ensure the protection of the health of all people, access to clean water, improved nutrition, health services, hygiene
conditions, environmental sanitation, and provide the means for prevention and treatment of all diseases, ensuring access to quality
medicines and giving free medical and hospital assistance to those who require it;
2) The State shall ensure, through law and public policy, the exercise of economic and social rights of the population of lower income and
therefore provide protection and assistance to vulnerable groups and sectors; fight social vices with measures appropriate and with the
help of conventions and international organizations.
Article 62. - Right to work. Work is a right, a duty and a social function that is exercised in the protection and assistance of the State. It's
essential aim of the State to promote decent and gainful employment. The public authorities shall promote dialogue and consultation
between workers, employers and the state. Accordingly:
1) The State guarantees equality and equity between women and men in the exercise of the right to work;
2) No one can stop the work of others or force them to work against their will;
3) They are basic rights of workers, including: freedom of association, social security, collective bargaining, vocational training, respect
for their physical and intellectual, privacy and personal dignity;
4) The union is free and democratic, must comply with their regulations and be compatible with the principles enshrined in the
Constitution and laws;
5) It prohibits any kind of discrimination in access to employment or during the service, unless otherwise provided by law for the purpose
of protecting the worker or worker;
6) To resolve disputes and peaceful recognizes the right of workers to strike and employers to stop private companies, provided they are
exercised in accordance with the law, which provide measures to ensure the maintenance of public services or the public interest;
7) The law shall provide, as required by the general interest, working hours, rest days and holidays, minimum wages and payment,
participation of nationals in all work, and the participation of workers in the profits of the company and, in general, all measures deemed
necessary minimum for workers, including special regulations for informal work, home and any other form of human labor. The State
shall provide the means available to the workers to acquire the tools and instruments necessary for its work;
8) It is the duty of every employer to ensure workers safety, hygiene, health and adequate working environment. The State shall take
measures to promote the creation of instances including employers and workers to achieve these goals;
9) Every worker has the right to a fair wage sufficient to enable it to live with dignity and cover for himself and his family basic material
needs, social and intellectual. It guarantees payment of equal pay for work of equal value without gender discrimination or otherwise
under identical conditions and capacity, efficiency and seniority;
10) is of great interest the implementation of labor standards on labor nationalization. The law shall determine the percentage of foreigners
who may provide services to a company as employees.
Article 63. - Right to education. Everyone has the right to a full education, quality, permanent, equal opportunities, without other
limitations than those derived from their skills, vocation and aspirations. Accordingly:
1) Education aims at the integral formation of the human being over a lifetime and be directed to the development of their creative and
ethical values. Looking for access to knowledge, science, technology and other goods and cultural values;
2) The family is responsible for the education of its members and has the right to choose the kind of education of their minor children;
3) The state guarantees free public education and constitutes an obligation in the initial, primary and secondary. The initial price level is
defined in the law. Higher education in the public system will be financed by the state, ensuring a proportional distribution of resources to
the educational resources of the region in accordance with the stipulations of the law;
4) The State shall ensure the free and the quality of general education, the achievement of its aims and the moral, intellectual and physical
learner. You are obliged to offer the number of hours to ensure the achievement of educational objectives;
5) The State recognizes the exercise of the teaching profession as essential to the full development of education and the Dominican nation
and therefore it is your obligation strive to ensure professionalism, stability and dignity of the teachers;
6) The obligations of the State to eradicate illiteracy and education of people with special needs and exceptional ability;
7) The State shall ensure the quality of higher education and fund public schools and universities, in accordance with the stipulations of
the law.
Ensure university autonomy and academic freedom;
8) The universities choose their policies and governed by its own statutes, in accordance with the law;
9) The State shall define policies to promote and encourage research, science, technology and innovation to support sustainable
development, human welfare, competitiveness, institutional strengthening and preserving the environment. They support businesses and
private institutions to invest for such purposes;
10) State investment in education, science and technology should be increased and sustained levels corresponding to the country's
macroeconomic performance. The law entered the minimum amounts and percentages for this investment. Under no circumstances may
make transfers of funds appropriated to fund the development of these areas;
11) The media, public and private, should contribute to citizenship education. The State guarantees public radio, television and library
networks and information technology, in order to allow universal access to information. Schools incorporate the knowledge and
application of new technologies and innovations, in accordance with the requirements established by law;
12) The State guarantees freedom of education, recognizes the private sector in the creation of institutions and education services and
encourages the development of science and technology, according to the law;
13) In order to become citizens aware of their rights and duties, in all institutions of public and private education will be compulsory
instruction in social and civic education, the teaching of the Constitution, the rights and guarantees , of patriotic values and the principles
of peaceful coexistence.
SECTION III
CULTURAL RIGHTS AND SPORTS
Article 64. - The right to culture. Everyone has the right to participate and act freely and without censorship in the cultural life of the
nation, to full access and enjoyment of cultural goods and services, of scientific and artistic and literary production. The State shall
protect the moral and material interests over the works of authors and inventors. Accordingly:
1) Establish policies that promote and foster, in the national and international arenas, the various manifestations and expressions scientific,
artistic and popular Dominican culture and encourage and support the efforts of individuals, institutions and communities to develop or
finance plans and cultural activities ;
2) guarantee the freedom of expression and artistic creation, and access to culture in equal opportunities and promote cultural diversity,
cooperation and exchange between nations;
3) recognize the value of cultural identity, individual and collective, their importance to the overall development and sustainable economic
growth, innovation and human welfare by supporting research and dissemination of scientific and cultural production. Protect the dignity
and integrity of cultural workers;
4) The Nation's cultural heritage, tangible and intangible, is under the protection of the State will ensure their protection, enrichment,
conservation, restoration and enhancement. The cultural heritage of the nation, whether state owned or acquired by the State, are
inalienable and indefeasible and such ownership, indefeasible. The assets in private hands and underwater cultural heritage shall be equally
protected against the illegal export and plundering.
The law shall regulate the acquisition thereof.
Article 65. - Right to sport. Everyone has the right to physical education, sport and recreation. The State, in collaboration with schools
and sports organizations, promote, encourage and support the practice and dissemination of these activities. Therefore:
1) The State assumes the sport and recreation as a public policy education and health and physical education and ensuring school sports at
all levels of the education system, according to law;
2) The law shall provide resources, encouragement and incentives for the promotion of sport for everyone, comprehensive care of
athletes, support for high-level sport, programs and sports activities in the country and abroad.
SECTION IV
COLLECTIVE RIGHTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Article 66. - Collective and diffuse rights. The State recognizes the rights and collective and diffuse interests, which are exercised under
the conditions and limitations established by law. Consequently protects:
1) The preservation of the ecological balance of flora and fauna;
2) The protection of the environment;
3) Preservation of cultural, historic, urban, artistic, architectural and archaeological.
Article 67. - Environmental protection. State duties constitute prevent pollution, protect and maintain the environment for the benefit of
present and future generations. Accordingly:
1) Everyone has the right, both individually and collectively, the sustainable use and enjoyment of natural resources to live in a healthy,
ecologically balanced and suitable for the development and preservation of the various forms of life, landscape and of nature;
2) prohibits the introduction, development, production, possession, sale, transport, storage and use of chemical, biological and nuclear
chemicals and internationally forbidden, and nuclear waste, toxic and hazardous wastes;
3) The State shall promote, in the public and private sectors, the use of alternative energy technologies and clean;
4) In the State contracts held or to be granted permits involving the use and exploitation of natural resources, including the obligation shall
be deemed to preserve the ecological balance, access to and transfer of technology, as well as restore the environment to its natural state,
if it is altered;
5) The public authorities prevent and control environmental deterioration factors, legal sanctions imposed strict liability for damage caused
to the environment and natural resources and require repair. Also cooperate with other nations in protecting ecosystems along the sea and
land border.
CHAPTER II
WARRANTIES OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
Article 68. - Guarantees of fundamental rights. The Constitution guarantees the effectiveness of fundamental rights, through the tutelage
and protection mechanisms, the person offering the possibility to obtain the satisfaction of their rights against the obligors or debtors
thereof. Fundamental rights are binding on all public authorities, which should ensure its effectiveness in the terms established by this
Constitution and by law.
Article 69. - Effective judicial protection and due process. Every person, in the exercise of their rights and legitimate interests, is entitled
to an effective remedy, with respect for due process will consist of the minimum guarantees set forth below:
1) The right to justice accessible, timely and free;
2) The right to be heard within a reasonable time by a court competent, independent and impartial, previously established by law;
3) The right to be presumed innocent and to be treated as such, until it has been declared guilty by irrevocable sentence;
4) The right to a public trial, oral and contradictory, with full equality and respect for the rights of the defense;
5) No person shall be tried twice for the same cause;
6) No one may be compelled to testify against himself;
7) No person shall be tried in accordance with laws that predate the act which he is charged, before a competent court and in compliance
with the fullness of the formalities of each trial;
8) There is no evidence obtained in violation of the law;
9) A judgment may be appealed in accordance with the law. The superior court shall not aggravate the penalty imposed when only the
convicted person appeals against the sentence;
10) The standards of due process apply to all kinds of legal and administrative proceedings.
Article 70. - Habeas data. Everyone has the right to a judicial action to deal with the existence and access the data that it contained in
records or databanks public or private, and in case of false or discrimination, requiring the suspension, modification, upgrade and
confidentiality those, according to law. Will not affect the secrecy of journalistic sources.
Article 71. - Habeas corpus. All persons deprived of their liberty or be threatened, illegally, arbitrarily, is entitled to a writ of habeas corpus
before a competent court, on its own or by someone acting on their behalf, in accordance with the law , to hear and determine, in a
simple, effective, quick and summary, the legality of the deprivation of liberty or threat.
Article 72. - Amparo. Everyone is entitled to a writ of amparo to claim in court, by himself or by anyone acting on its behalf, the
immediate protection of their fundamental rights, not protected by habeas corpus, when they are violated or threatened by the action or
omission of any public or private authority to enforce compliance with a law or administrative action to ensure the rights and interests and
diffuse. Under the law, the procedure is preferred, summary, oral, public, free and unencumbered by formalities.
Paragraph. - Acts adopted during states of emergency that violate rights protected unreasonably affecting suspended rights are subject to
the writ of amparo.
Article 73. - Nullity of acts that subvert the constitutional order. Are null and void acts of the usurped authority, the actions or decisions
of public authorities, institutions or individuals that alter or subvert the constitutional order and any decision taken by armed force
requisition.
CHAPTER III
PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION
RIGHTS AND GUARANTEES
Article 74. - Regulatory Principles and interpretation. The interpretation and regulation of the rights and guarantees recognized in the
present
Constitution, are governed by the following principles:
1) There are limited and therefore do not exclude other rights and guarantees of the same nature;
2) only by law, as permitted by this Constitution, may be regulated the exercise of fundamental rights and guarantees respecting its
substance and the principle of reasonableness;
3) The treaties, covenants and conventions on human rights, signed and ratified by the Dominican Republic, have constitutional status and
are of direct and immediate application by the courts and other state bodies;
4) The public authorities interpret and apply the rules relating to fundamental rights and guarantees, in the sense most favorable to the
holder thereof and, in case of conflict between fundamental rights, seek to harmonize the property and interests protected by this
Constitution.
CHAPTER IV
Fundamental Duties
Article 75. - Fundamental Duties. The fundamental rights recognized in the Constitution for the existence of an order of legal and moral
responsibility, which requires the conduct of men and women in society. Accordingly, it is declared as fundamental duties of the
following people:
1) Comply with and enforce the Constitution and laws, to respect and obey the authorities established by them;
2) Voting, provided you are legally able to do so;
3) Pay the civil and military service his country may require for its defense and preservation, as provided by law;
4) Provide services for the development, due to the Dominicans aged between sixteen and twenty-one. These services may be provided
voluntarily by over twenty years. The law will regulate these services;
5) Refrain from any act detrimental to the stability, independence and sovereignty of the Dominican Republic;
6) Tribute, in accordance with law and in proportion to their ability to pay, to finance public spending and investment. It is a fundamental
duty of the State to guarantee the rationality of public spending and promoting efficient public administration;
7) Engaging in a decent job of their choice, in order to provide a living for themselves and their family to achieve the perfection of his
personality and contribute to the welfare and progress of society;
8) Attend educational institutions of the nation to receive, as provided in this Constitution, compulsory education;
9) Cooperate with the State in terms of social security and assistance, according to their possibilities;
10) conform to the principle of social solidarity, responding to humanitarian situations or public calamity threatening the life or health of
persons;
11) Develop and disseminate Dominican culture and protect the natural resources of the country, ensuring the preservation of a clean and
healthy environment;
12) Ensure quality and strengthening of democracy, respect of public and transparent exercise of public functions.
RIGHTS, WARRANTIES AND FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES
CHAPTER I
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
SECTION I
CIVIL RIGHTS AND POLITICAL
Article 37. - Right to life. The right to life is inviolable from conception until death. There shall be established, rule or applied in any case,
the death penalty.
Article 38. - Human dignity. The State is founded on respect for the dignity of the person and is organized for real and effective protection
of fundamental rights that are inherent. The dignity of the human being is sacred, innate and inviolable respect and protection is a core
responsibility of public authorities.
Article 39. - Right to equality. All people are born free and equal before the law, receive the same treatment and protection of institutions,
authorities and others and enjoy the same rights, freedoms and opportunities without discrimination on grounds of gender, color, age,
disability, nationality, family ties, language, religion, political or philosophical, social or personal. Accordingly:
1) The Republic condemns all privileges and status that tends to undermine the equality of the Dominicans and Dominicans, among whom
there must be no other differences than those resulting from their talents or his virtues;
2) No entity of the Republic may grant titles of nobility or hereditary distinctions;
3) The State shall promote the necessary legal and administrative measures to make equality real and effective and adopt measures to
prevent and combat discrimination, marginalization, vulnerability and exclusion;
4) The women and men are equal before the law. It prohibits any act that has the purpose or effect of impairing or nullifying the
recognition, enjoyment or exercise on an equal basis of the fundamental rights of women and men. It will promote the necessary
measures to ensure the eradication of inequalities and gender discrimination;
5) The State shall promote and ensure a balanced participation of women and men as candidates to elective office for direction and
decision-making bodies in public, in the administration of justice and in the bodies of state control.
Article 40. - Right to liberty and security of person. Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. Therefore:
1) No one shall be imprisoned or restrained of his liberty without written reasoned and competent judge, except in case of flagrante delicto;
2) Any authority custodial measures are required to identify themselves;
3) Every person, at the time of his arrest, will be informed of their rights;
4) Anyone who is arrested has the right to immediately contact their relatives, attorney or someone you trust, who have the right to be
informed of the place where the person arrested and the reasons for the arrest;
5) All persons deprived of their liberty shall be submitted to the competent court within forty-eight hours of his detention or release. The
competent judicial authority shall notify the applicant, within the same period, the decision is rendered that purpose;
6) All persons deprived of their liberty without cause or without legal formalities or outside the cases provided by law, shall be
immediately released at the request of you or anyone else;
7) Every person must be released after serving his sentence or a release order issued by the competent authority;
8) No one shall be subjected to measures of coercion but by his own act;
9) The coercive measures restricting personal freedom, exceptional and their application should be proportionate to risk trying to protect;
10) There shall be no physical constraint for the debt that is not from violation of criminal law;
11) Any person who has in his custody a prisoner is required to submit as soon as required by the competent authority;
12) It is prohibited the transfer of any detainees to a prison facility to another location without a written order from a competent authority
and motivated;
13) No one may be convicted or sentenced for acts or omissions at the time did not constitute a criminal or administrative offense;
14) No one is criminally responsible for the act of another;
15) No one shall be compelled to do what the law does not require or prevented from doing what the law prohibits. The law is equal for
all can only order what is right and useful to the community and can not prohibit more than it hurts you;
16) The imprisonment and security measures which are aimed at the rehabilitation and social reintegration of the convicted person and
shall not involve forced labor;
17) In the exercise of sanctioning powers established by law, public administration may not impose sanctions directly or subsidiary
involving deprivation of liberty.
Article 41. - Prohibition of slavery. Are prohibited in all their forms, slavery, servitude, trafficking and human trafficking.
Article 42. - Right to personal integrity. Everyone has the right to respect for their physical, mental, moral and to live without violence. It
will have state protection in cases of threat, risk or violation thereof. Accordingly:
1) No one shall be subjected to punishment, torture or degrading procedures involving the loss or impairment of health, or physical or
mental integrity;
2) It condemns violence and gender violence in any form.
The State guarantees by law the necessary measures to prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women;
3) No one may be subjected, without consent, to experiments and procedures that do not conform to standards internationally recognized
scientific and bioethics. Neither medical tests or procedures, except when it is life threatening.
Article 43. - The right to free development of personality. Everyone has the right to the free development of his personality, no limitations
other than those imposed by the legal system and the rights of others.
Article 44. - Right to privacy and personal honor. Everyone has the right to privacy. Ensuring respect and non-interference with privacy,
family, home and correspondence of the individual. The right to honor, good name and reputation. Any authority or individual that violates
or is obliged to compensate them repaired according to law. Therefore:
1) The home address and any private person are inviolable, except in cases that are ordered, in accordance with the law, by judicial
authority or in flagrante delicto;
2) Everyone has the right to access to information and data on it or its assets rest in official or private records, and know the destination
and the use made of them, within the limits set by the law. The processing of personal data and information assets must comply with the
principles of quality, legality, loyalty, security and purpose. May apply to the competent judicial authority to update, oppose the use,
modification or destruction of information affecting those rights unlawfully;
3) It recognizes the inviolability of correspondence, documents or private messages on physical formats, digital, electronic or any other
type. They may only be occupied, intercepted or recorded, by order of a competent judicial authority, by law in the conduct of affairs that
are aired on justice and preserving the secrecy of the private, not related to due process. It inviolable secrecy of telegraphic
communication, telephone, cablegram, electronic, telematic or established in another medium, except authorizations granted by judge or
competent authority, in accordance with the law;
4) The handling, use or processing of data and information from official authorities that collect the prevention, prosecution and
punishment of crime, should only be treated or communicated to public records, from who was involved with an opening proceedings in
accordance with law.
Article 45. - Freedom of conscience and worship. The State guarantees freedom of conscience and religion, subject to public order and
respect for decency.
Article 46. - Freedom of Transit. Any person who is in national territory is entitled to travel, live and free to leave the same, in accordance
with the laws.
1) No Dominican Dominican or be deprived of the right to enter the country. Neither can be expelled or missed it, except in cases of
extradition pronounced by competent legal authority under the law and international agreements on the subject;
2) Everyone has the right to seek asylum in the country, in case of persecution for political reasons. Those who are able to enjoy the
protection seekers to ensure the full exercise of their rights under the agreements, standards and international instruments signed and
ratified by the Dominican Republic. Not considered political crimes, terrorism, crimes against humanity, administrative corruption and
transnational crime.
Article 47. - Freedom of association. Everyone has the right to assemble for lawful purposes, in accordance with the law.
Article 48. - Freedom of assembly. Everyone has the right to assemble, without prior permission, lawful and peaceful purposes, in
accordance with the law.
Article 49. - Freedom of expression and information. Everyone has the right to freely express their thoughts, ideas and opinions, by any
means, without prior censorship.
1) Everyone has the right to information. This right includes search, seek, receive and impart information of all kinds, whether public, by
any means, channel or pathway, as determined by the Constitution and the law;
2) All the media have free access to official news sources of public and private, in accordance with the law;
3) The secrecy and the conscience clause of journalist are protected by the Constitution and the law;
4) Everyone has the right to reply and corrections when you feel aggrieved by information disseminated. This right shall be exercised in
accordance with the law;
5) The law guarantees equal access and plural of all social and political media owned.
Paragraph. - The enjoyment of these freedoms are exercised in accordance with the right to honor, privacy and the dignity and morality
of the people, especially the protection of youth and childhood, in accordance with the law and public order.
SECTION II
OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
Article 50. - Free enterprise. The State recognizes and guarantees free enterprise, trade and industry. Everyone has the right to freely
engage in economic activity of their choice, no limitations other than those prescribed in this Constitution and the laws establish.
1) Do not allow monopolies, except in favor of the State. The creation and organization of these monopolies will by law. The State
encourages and ensures the free and fair competition and adopt such measures as may be necessary to prevent harmful and restrictive
effects of monopoly and abuse of dominant position, establishing by law exceptions for cases of national security;
2) The State may enact measures to regulate the economy and promote national competitiveness plans and boosting development of the
country;
3) The State may grant concessions for the time and manner prescribed by law, in the case of exploitation of natural resources or the
provision of public services, ensuring the existence of adequate compensatory considerations or public interest and environmental balance .
Article 51. - Property rights. The State recognizes and guarantees the right to property. The property has a social function that implies
obligations. Everyone has the right to enjoy, enjoyment and disposition of property.
1) No person shall be deprived of his property, but for cause of public utility or social interest, upon payment of its fair value, determined
by agreement between the parties or judgment of a competent court, in accordance with the provisions of the law . In case of declaration
of State of Emergency and Defense, compensation shall not be prior;
2) The State shall promote, in accordance with the law, access to property, especially real property titled;
3) social interest is declared the allocation of land to useful purposes and phasing out the estate. It is a primary object of the social policy
of the state, promote land reform and effectively integrate the rural population to the national development process by encouraging
cooperation and for the renewal of their agricultural production methods and technology training ;
4) No political reasons confiscation of property of natural or legal persons;
5) Only be subject to seizure and forfeiture, by final judgment, property of individuals or corporations, domestic or foreign, that originate
in illegal acts committed against public property, as well as from the use or trafficking activities narcotic drugs and psychotropic
substances and related transnational organized crime and of any offense under the penal law;
6) The law shall establish the system of administration and disposition of seized and abandoned in criminal prosecutions and asset
forfeiture, under the law.
Article 52. - Intellectual property law. It recognizes and protects the right of exclusive ownership of scientific, literary, artistic, inventions
and innovations, trade names, trademarks, service marks and other productions of the human intellect by time, in the manner and within
the limits established by law .
Article 53. - Consumer rights. Everyone has the right to dispose of goods and services quality, objective, accurate and timely information
about the content and characteristics of products and services used or consumed, under the provisions and standards set by law. People
who are injured or damaged by goods and services of poor quality, are entitled to be compensated or compensated according to law.
Article 54. - Food Safety. The State shall promote research and technology transfer for the production of food and agricultural raw
materials, in order to increase productivity and ensure food security.
Article 55. - Right of the family. The family is the foundation of society and the basic space for the development of the whole person. It is
constituted by natural or legal ties, by the free decision of a man and a woman to marry or the responsible desire to form.
1) Everyone has the right to form a family, in whose formation and development of women and men enjoy equal rights and duties and
should be mutual understanding and mutual respect;
2) The State shall ensure the protection of the family. The family property is inalienable and indefeasible, in accordance with the law;
3) The State shall promote and protect the organization of the family on the basis of the institution of marriage between a man and a
woman. The law establishes the requirements for marriage, the formalities for their celebration, their personal effects and property, the
grounds for separation or dissolution, the property regime and the rights and duties between spouses;
4) Religious marriages will have civil effects in the terms established by law, subject to the provisions of international treaties;
5) The unique and stable union between a man and a woman, free of matrimonial, forming a de facto family, creates rights and duties in
their personal and property relations, in accordance with the law;
6) Motherhood whatever social or marital status of women, enjoy the protection of the public authorities and generates entitled to
government assistance in case of need;
7) Everyone has the right to recognition as a person, to a name, the surname of the father and mother and the identity of the same;
8) All persons have the right from birth to be registered in the civil registry free or the Book of Aliens and obtain public documents
proving your identity, in accordance with the law;
9) All children are equal before the law, have equal rights and duties and enjoy the same opportunities for social, spiritual and physical.
It prohibits any mention of the nature of the affiliation in civil registration and identity card at all;
10) The State promotes responsible parenthood. The father and mother, even after separation and divorce, have shared and inescapable
obligation to feed, raise, train, educate, maintain, provide security and assist their children. The law establishes the necessary and
appropriate measures to ensure the effectiveness of these obligations;
11) The State recognizes housework as an economic activity that creates added value and produces social welfare and wealth, so that will
be incorporated in the formulation and implementation of public policies and social;
12) The State shall, by law, safe and effective policies for adoption;
13) It recognizes the value of youth as key players in the development of the Nation. The State guarantees and promotes the effective
exercise of their rights, through policies and programs that ensure permanently their participation in all spheres of national life and, in
particular, their training and their first job.
Article 56. - Protection of minors. The family, society and the state, will prioritize the interests of the child or adolescent shall be required
to assist and protect them to ensure their full and harmonious development and the full exercise of their fundamental rights under the
Constitution and the laws.
Accordingly:
1) It is hereby declared the highest national interest the eradication of child labor and all forms of abuse and violence against minors.
Children and adolescents will be protected by the state against all forms of neglect, kidnapping, vulnerable state, abuse or physical
violence, psychological, moral or sexual commercial exploitation, labor, economic and dangerous work;
2) promote the active and progressive children and adolescents in the family, community and social;
3) Teenagers are active participants in the development process. The State, with the joint participation of families and society, create
opportunities to stimulate their productive transition into adulthood.
Article 57. - Protecting the seniors. The family, society and the state participate in protecting and assisting the senior citizens and will
promote their integration into working life and community. The State guarantees the services of integral social security and food subsidies
in connection with poverty.
Article 58. - Protection of persons with disabilities. The State shall promote, protect and ensure the full enjoyment of all human rights and
fundamental freedoms of persons with disabilities, on an equal footing, as well as the full and autonomous capabilities. The State shall
adopt positive measures necessary to promote their integration into the family, community, social, labor, economic, cultural and political.
Article 59. - The right to housing. Everyone has the right to decent housing with essential basic services. The State must establish the
conditions necessary for realizing this right and promote plans for housing and human settlements of interest. Legal access to real estate is
called a key priority of public policies to promote housing.
Article 60. - Right to social security. Everyone has the right to social security. The State shall encourage the progressive development of
social security to ensure universal access to adequate protection in illness, disability, unemployment and old age.
Article 61. - The right to health. Everyone has the right to comprehensive health care.
Accordingly:
1) The State shall ensure the protection of the health of all people, access to clean water, improved nutrition, health services, hygiene
conditions, environmental sanitation, and provide the means for prevention and treatment of all diseases, ensuring access to quality
medicines and giving free medical and hospital assistance to those who require it;
2) The State shall ensure, through law and public policy, the exercise of economic and social rights of the population of lower income and
therefore provide protection and assistance to vulnerable groups and sectors; fight social vices with measures appropriate and with the
help of conventions and international organizations.
Article 62. - Right to work. Work is a right, a duty and a social function that is exercised in the protection and assistance of the State. It's
essential aim of the State to promote decent and gainful employment. The public authorities shall promote dialogue and consultation
between workers, employers and the state. Accordingly:
1) The State guarantees equality and equity between women and men in the exercise of the right to work;
2) No one can stop the work of others or force them to work against their will;
3) They are basic rights of workers, including: freedom of association, social security, collective bargaining, vocational training, respect
for their physical and intellectual, privacy and personal dignity;
4) The union is free and democratic, must comply with their regulations and be compatible with the principles enshrined in the
Constitution and laws;
5) It prohibits any kind of discrimination in access to employment or during the service, unless otherwise provided by law for the purpose
of protecting the worker or worker;
6) To resolve disputes and peaceful recognizes the right of workers to strike and employers to stop private companies, provided they are
exercised in accordance with the law, which provide measures to ensure the maintenance of public services or the public interest;
7) The law shall provide, as required by the general interest, working hours, rest days and holidays, minimum wages and payment,
participation of nationals in all work, and the participation of workers in the profits of the company and, in general, all measures deemed
necessary minimum for workers, including special regulations for informal work, home and any other form of human labor. The State
shall provide the means available to the workers to acquire the tools and instruments necessary for its work;
8) It is the duty of every employer to ensure workers safety, hygiene, health and adequate working environment. The State shall take
measures to promote the creation of instances including employers and workers to achieve these goals;
9) Every worker has the right to a fair wage sufficient to enable it to live with dignity and cover for himself and his family basic material
needs, social and intellectual. It guarantees payment of equal pay for work of equal value without gender discrimination or otherwise
under identical conditions and capacity, efficiency and seniority;
10) is of great interest the implementation of labor standards on labor nationalization. The law shall determine the percentage of foreigners
who may provide services to a company as employees.
Article 63. - Right to education. Everyone has the right to a full education, quality, permanent, equal opportunities, without other
limitations than those derived from their skills, vocation and aspirations. Accordingly:
1) Education aims at the integral formation of the human being over a lifetime and be directed to the development of their creative and
ethical values. Looking for access to knowledge, science, technology and other goods and cultural values;
2) The family is responsible for the education of its members and has the right to choose the kind of education of their minor children;
3) The state guarantees free public education and constitutes an obligation in the initial, primary and secondary. The initial price level is
defined in the law. Higher education in the public system will be financed by the state, ensuring a proportional distribution of resources to
the educational resources of the region in accordance with the stipulations of the law;
4) The State shall ensure the free and the quality of general education, the achievement of its aims and the moral, intellectual and physical
learner. You are obliged to offer the number of hours to ensure the achievement of educational objectives;
5) The State recognizes the exercise of the teaching profession as essential to the full development of education and the Dominican nation
and therefore it is your obligation strive to ensure professionalism, stability and dignity of the teachers;
6) The obligations of the State to eradicate illiteracy and education of people with special needs and exceptional ability;
7) The State shall ensure the quality of higher education and fund public schools and universities, in accordance with the stipulations of
the law.
Ensure university autonomy and academic freedom;
8) The universities choose their policies and governed by its own statutes, in accordance with the law;
9) The State shall define policies to promote and encourage research, science, technology and innovation to support sustainable
development, human welfare, competitiveness, institutional strengthening and preserving the environment. They support businesses and
private institutions to invest for such purposes;
10) State investment in education, science and technology should be increased and sustained levels corresponding to the country's
macroeconomic performance. The law entered the minimum amounts and percentages for this investment. Under no circumstances may
make transfers of funds appropriated to fund the development of these areas;
11) The media, public and private, should contribute to citizenship education. The State guarantees public radio, television and library
networks and information technology, in order to allow universal access to information. Schools incorporate the knowledge and
application of new technologies and innovations, in accordance with the requirements established by law;
12) The State guarantees freedom of education, recognizes the private sector in the creation of institutions and education services and
encourages the development of science and technology, according to the law;
13) In order to become citizens aware of their rights and duties, in all institutions of public and private education will be compulsory
instruction in social and civic education, the teaching of the Constitution, the rights and guarantees , of patriotic values and the principles
of peaceful coexistence.
SECTION III
CULTURAL RIGHTS AND SPORTS
Article 64. - The right to culture. Everyone has the right to participate and act freely and without censorship in the cultural life of the
nation, to full access and enjoyment of cultural goods and services, of scientific and artistic and literary production. The State shall
protect the moral and material interests over the works of authors and inventors. Accordingly:
1) Establish policies that promote and foster, in the national and international arenas, the various manifestations and expressions scientific,
artistic and popular Dominican culture and encourage and support the efforts of individuals, institutions and communities to develop or
finance plans and cultural activities ;
2) guarantee the freedom of expression and artistic creation, and access to culture in equal opportunities and promote cultural diversity,
cooperation and exchange between nations;
3) recognize the value of cultural identity, individual and collective, their importance to the overall development and sustainable economic
growth, innovation and human welfare by supporting research and dissemination of scientific and cultural production. Protect the dignity
and integrity of cultural workers;
4) The Nation's cultural heritage, tangible and intangible, is under the protection of the State will ensure their protection, enrichment,
conservation, restoration and enhancement. The cultural heritage of the nation, whether state owned or acquired by the State, are
inalienable and indefeasible and such ownership, indefeasible. The assets in private hands and underwater cultural heritage shall be equally
protected against the illegal export and plundering.
The law shall regulate the acquisition thereof.
Article 65. - Right to sport. Everyone has the right to physical education, sport and recreation. The State, in collaboration with schools
and sports organizations, promote, encourage and support the practice and dissemination of these activities. Therefore:
1) The State assumes the sport and recreation as a public policy education and health and physical education and ensuring school sports at
all levels of the education system, according to law;
2) The law shall provide resources, encouragement and incentives for the promotion of sport for everyone, comprehensive care of
athletes, support for high-level sport, programs and sports activities in the country and abroad.
SECTION IV
COLLECTIVE RIGHTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Article 66. - Collective and diffuse rights. The State recognizes the rights and collective and diffuse interests, which are exercised under
the conditions and limitations established by law. Consequently protects:
1) The preservation of the ecological balance of flora and fauna;
2) The protection of the environment;
3) Preservation of cultural, historic, urban, artistic, architectural and archaeological.
Article 67. - Environmental protection. State duties constitute prevent pollution, protect and maintain the environment for the benefit of
present and future generations. Accordingly:
1) Everyone has the right, both individually and collectively, the sustainable use and enjoyment of natural resources to live in a healthy,
ecologically balanced and suitable for the development and preservation of the various forms of life, landscape and of nature;
2) prohibits the introduction, development, production, possession, sale, transport, storage and use of chemical, biological and nuclear
chemicals and internationally forbidden, and nuclear waste, toxic and hazardous wastes;
3) The State shall promote, in the public and private sectors, the use of alternative energy technologies and clean;
4) In the State contracts held or to be granted permits involving the use and exploitation of natural resources, including the obligation shall
be deemed to preserve the ecological balance, access to and transfer of technology, as well as restore the environment to its natural state,
if it is altered;
5) The public authorities prevent and control environmental deterioration factors, legal sanctions imposed strict liability for damage caused
to the environment and natural resources and require repair. Also cooperate with other nations in protecting ecosystems along the sea and
land border.
CHAPTER II
WARRANTIES OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
Article 68. - Guarantees of fundamental rights. The Constitution guarantees the effectiveness of fundamental rights, through the tutelage
and protection mechanisms, the person offering the possibility to obtain the satisfaction of their rights against the obligors or debtors
thereof. Fundamental rights are binding on all public authorities, which should ensure its effectiveness in the terms established by this
Constitution and by law.
Article 69. - Effective judicial protection and due process. Every person, in the exercise of their rights and legitimate interests, is entitled
to an effective remedy, with respect for due process will consist of the minimum guarantees set forth below:
1) The right to justice accessible, timely and free;
2) The right to be heard within a reasonable time by a court competent, independent and impartial, previously established by law;
3) The right to be presumed innocent and to be treated as such, until it has been declared guilty by irrevocable sentence;
4) The right to a public trial, oral and contradictory, with full equality and respect for the rights of the defense;
5) No person shall be tried twice for the same cause;
6) No one may be compelled to testify against himself;
7) No person shall be tried in accordance with laws that predate the act which he is charged, before a competent court and in compliance
with the fullness of the formalities of each trial;
8) There is no evidence obtained in violation of the law;
9) A judgment may be appealed in accordance with the law. The superior court shall not aggravate the penalty imposed when only the
convicted person appeals against the sentence;
10) The standards of due process apply to all kinds of legal and administrative proceedings.
Article 70. - Habeas data. Everyone has the right to a judicial action to deal with the existence and access the data that it contained in
records or databanks public or private, and in case of false or discrimination, requiring the suspension, modification, upgrade and
confidentiality those, according to law. Will not affect the secrecy of journalistic sources.
Article 71. - Habeas corpus. All persons deprived of their liberty or be threatened, illegally, arbitrarily, is entitled to a writ of habeas corpus
before a competent court, on its own or by someone acting on their behalf, in accordance with the law , to hear and determine, in a
simple, effective, quick and summary, the legality of the deprivation of liberty or threat.
Article 72. - Amparo. Everyone is entitled to a writ of amparo to claim in court, by himself or by anyone acting on its behalf, the
immediate protection of their fundamental rights, not protected by habeas corpus, when they are violated or threatened by the action or
omission of any public or private authority to enforce compliance with a law or administrative action to ensure the rights and interests and
diffuse. Under the law, the procedure is preferred, summary, oral, public, free and unencumbered by formalities.
Paragraph. - Acts adopted during states of emergency that violate rights protected unreasonably affecting suspended rights are subject to
the writ of amparo.
Article 73. - Nullity of acts that subvert the constitutional order. Are null and void acts of the usurped authority, the actions or decisions
of public authorities, institutions or individuals that alter or subvert the constitutional order and any decision taken by armed force
requisition.
CHAPTER III
PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION
RIGHTS AND GUARANTEES
Article 74. - Regulatory Principles and interpretation. The interpretation and regulation of the rights and guarantees recognized in the
present
Constitution, are governed by the following principles:
1) There are limited and therefore do not exclude other rights and guarantees of the same nature;
2) only by law, as permitted by this Constitution, may be regulated the exercise of fundamental rights and guarantees respecting its
substance and the principle of reasonableness;
3) The treaties, covenants and conventions on human rights, signed and ratified by the Dominican Republic, have constitutional status and
are of direct and immediate application by the courts and other state bodies;
4) The public authorities interpret and apply the rules relating to fundamental rights and guarantees, in the sense most favorable to the
holder thereof and, in case of conflict between fundamental rights, seek to harmonize the property and interests protected by this
Constitution.
CHAPTER IV
Fundamental Duties
Article 75. - Fundamental Duties. The fundamental rights recognized in the Constitution for the existence of an order of legal and moral
responsibility, which requires the conduct of men and women in society. Accordingly, it is declared as fundamental duties of the
following people:
1) Comply with and enforce the Constitution and laws, to respect and obey the authorities established by them;
2) Voting, provided you are legally able to do so;
3) Pay the civil and military service his country may require for its defense and preservation, as provided by law;
4) Provide services for the development, due to the Dominicans aged between sixteen and twenty-one. These services may be provided
voluntarily by over twenty years. The law will regulate these services;
5) Refrain from any act detrimental to the stability, independence and sovereignty of the Dominican Republic;
6) Tribute, in accordance with law and in proportion to their ability to pay, to finance public spending and investment. It is a fundamental
duty of the State to guarantee the rationality of public spending and promoting efficient public administration;
7) Engaging in a decent job of their choice, in order to provide a living for themselves and their family to achieve the perfection of his
personality and contribute to the welfare and progress of society;
8) Attend educational institutions of the nation to receive, as provided in this Constitution, compulsory education;
9) Cooperate with the State in terms of social security and assistance, according to their possibilities;
10) conform to the principle of social solidarity, responding to humanitarian situations or public calamity threatening the life or health of
persons;
11) Develop and disseminate Dominican culture and protect the natural resources of the country, ensuring the preservation of a clean and
healthy environment;
12) Ensure quality and strengthening of democracy, respect of public and transparent exercise of public functions.
Waves of Arawak Indians migrated from the Orinoco Delta to the island of Hispaniola for
centuries who were replaced by the Taino around 600 BCE and organized the island into
feudal cacicazgos. Christopher Columbus reached the island on his first voyage on 5
December 1492 naming the island La Española. Widespread death of the native population
led to importation of slaves in 1503 which soon led to revolts many of whom created
maroon colonies in the mountains. French settlement on the western third of the island
yielded additional rebellions, leading to the creation of a French speaking black republic
named Haiti in the western third and centuries of animosity. Haitian dominance of the island
for fourteen years led to the creation of a Spanish speaking bid for independence which led
to the promulgation of a constitution on 6 November 1844. Spain annexed the island in 1861
but independence was regained following the American Civil War in March of 1865 and the
reestablishment of the republic. The U.S. occupied the island in 1960 and independence
was regained on 1 October 1922. Dictatorships controlled the island through much of the
20th century until free elections were held in 1996. The current constitution was promulgated
on 26 January 2010. Human rights are enumerated beginning with TITLE II (OF
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS, GUARANTEES AND DUTIES), conforms with the 1948 Universal
Declaration of Human Rights of which Dominican Republic is a signatory and are detailed
below. For a full English translation of Dominican Republic's Constitution, click here.
centuries who were replaced by the Taino around 600 BCE and organized the island into
feudal cacicazgos. Christopher Columbus reached the island on his first voyage on 5
December 1492 naming the island La Española. Widespread death of the native population
led to importation of slaves in 1503 which soon led to revolts many of whom created
maroon colonies in the mountains. French settlement on the western third of the island
yielded additional rebellions, leading to the creation of a French speaking black republic
named Haiti in the western third and centuries of animosity. Haitian dominance of the island
for fourteen years led to the creation of a Spanish speaking bid for independence which led
to the promulgation of a constitution on 6 November 1844. Spain annexed the island in 1861
but independence was regained following the American Civil War in March of 1865 and the
reestablishment of the republic. The U.S. occupied the island in 1960 and independence
was regained on 1 October 1922. Dictatorships controlled the island through much of the
20th century until free elections were held in 1996. The current constitution was promulgated
on 26 January 2010. Human rights are enumerated beginning with TITLE II (OF
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS, GUARANTEES AND DUTIES), conforms with the 1948 Universal
Declaration of Human Rights of which Dominican Republic is a signatory and are detailed
below. For a full English translation of Dominican Republic's Constitution, click here.