FERNANDEZ INAUGURATES NEW DOMINICAN SUPREME COURT

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 000154

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAR, NSC FOR SHANNON AND MADISON

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KCRM DR
SUBJECT: FERNANDEZ INAUGURATES NEW DOMINICAN SUPREME COURT
BUILDING; SPEAKS OUT ON CRIME



1. SUMMARY. On January 5, President Leonel Fernandez
inaugurated the new building that will house the Supreme
Court, Attorney General's office, and related activities.
Fernandez used the occasion to speak out on the need for an
honest and fair judiciary as an integral part of the fight
against crime, drugs, and corruption. He also defended the
new Criminal Procedures Code, arguing that a recent rise in
crime should be blamed on an increase on international
narco-trafficking elements, rather than on the additional
protections of Constitutional rights afforded by the code.
END SUMMARY.


2. On January 5, President Leonel Fernandez presided over the
inauguration of the new $34 million, 30,000 square meter
steel and glass building that will house the Supreme Court,
the Attorney General's office, and other related activities.
Construction began during Fernandez's first term (1996-2000),
but stopped during the intervening Mejia administration.
When Fernandez returned to power, he made it a priority to
finish the project, which was completed less than five months
into his tenure.


3. All three speakers at the inauguration -- Fernandez, Chief
Justice Jorge Subero Isa, and Attorney General Francisco
Dominguez Brito -- paid tribute to the beauty of the new
building, but stressed its function in the effort to reform
and modernize the entire judicial system. Fernandez, in
particular, used the occasion to emphasize the urgent need
for an independent, efficient, and fair judiciary in order to
fight persistent problems of crime, drugs, and corruption.
He made a plea to all judges in the nation to be impartial
and independent, saying, "I believe that this is still the
path that we must travel." He hoped that the new building
would represent a new beginning in the reform of the justice
system, allowing the Dominican Republic "to form an adequate,
institutional response to the problem of crime."


4. Fernandez also made a strong and impassioned defense of
the new Criminal Procedures Code (implemented in September),
which has been criticized by some for being too lenient on
criminals and the accused. He referred to the code as "no
more than the first expression of the process of reform," and
said that the recent rise in crime is not related to the
additional protections of citizen rights provided by the
Code, but rather is "a direct result of transnational
narco-trafficking, which is a perverse element of
globalization." Fernandez said that the new code was a large
step forward in respect for human rights and guarantees of
the individual liberties established in the Constitution.
KUBISKE