Dominican Republic, an island nation in the Caribbean. Dominica is another state in the same area, and the two are definitely separate countries. The official language is Spanish. Ethnically 70% is mixed. 15% are black and 13% are white. In religious beliefs, 66% are Christians and 30% are non-believers. In the area of 48,671 sq km, about 1,08,78,000 people live.
Sources of energy which are not renewable, biodiversity, spectrum, water etc. are state resources. Everyone has equal status regardless of any kind of difference. In addition, hereditary honors and titles are prohibited. All law enforcement officers must confirm his or her identity when arresting a citizen. Every citizen has the right to communicate with his family members, lawyers and trusted persons at the time of arrest. In addition, each of them has the right to know where the detainee is being held. Private business is recognized, but monopoly is prohibited. The right of consumers to receive quality products and services is paramount. Both daughters and sons have equal rights in the family.
Any activity that undermines constitutional continuity and discipline is void.
These are positive aspects. Now let's discuss the negative aspects. Not everyone believes in the existence of God, although the constitution states, - The National Motto is “God, Country, and Liberty”.

 

Constitution of Dominican Republic 


Admirable Articles of Dominican Republic's Constitution

Article 14. Natural resources

Nonrenewable natural resources that are found in the territory and in the marine areas under national jurisdiction, genetic resources, biodiversity, and the radio-electric spectrum are national patrimony.

 

Article 15. Water resources

Water constitutes an inalienable, imprescriptible strategic national patrimony for the use of the public that is not subject to seizure and is essential for life. Human consumption of water takes priority over any other use. The State shall promote the planning and implementation of effective policies for the protection of the water resources of the Nation.

The high watersheds of the rivers and the zones of endemic, native and migratory biodiversity, are subjects of special protection by the public powers in order to guarantee their management and preservation as fundamental assets of the Nation. The rivers, lakes lagoons, beaches and national coasts belong to the public domain and are freely accessible, always respecting the right to private property. The law shall regulate the conditions, forms and rights in which individuals shall access the enjoyment or management of these areas.

 

Article 16. Protected areas

Wildlife, the conservation units that compose the National System of Protected Areas and the ecosystems and species that they contain constitute patrimonial assets of the Nation and are inalienable, imprescriptible, and not subject to seizure. The limits of the protected areas may only be reduced by law with the approval with two thirds of the votes of the members of the chambers of the National Congress.

 

Article 39. Right to equality

All people are born free and equal before the law, receive the same protection and treatment from institutions, authorities, and other people and enjoy the same rights liberties and opportunities, without any discrimination for reasons of gender, color, age, disability, nationality, family ties, language, religions, political or philosophical opinion, social or personal condition. Consequently:

  1. The Republic condemns all privilege and situation that tends to fracture the equality of Dominicans, between whom differences beyond those resulting from their talents or virtues should not exist;
  2. No entity of the Republic may give titles of nobility nor hereditary distinctions;
  3. The State should promote judicial and administrative conditions so that equality may be real and effective and shall adopt methods to prevent and combat discrimination, marginalization, vulnerability and exclusion;
  4. Women and men are equal before the law. Any act that has the objective or result of diminishing or annulling the recognition, enjoyment or exercise of fundamental rights of woman and men in conditions of equality is prohibited.
  5. The State should promote and guarantee the equal participation of women and men in candidate lists to the offices of popular election for the instances of guidance and decision in the public sphere, in the administration of justice, and in the State-controlled bodies.

 

Article 40. Right to liberty and personal security (Part of it)

All people have a right to liberty and personal security. Accordingly:

  1. No one may be sent to prison or denied his liberty without an order caused and written by the appropriate judge, except in cases of flagrante delicto;
  2. Every authority that exercises measures to deprive liberty is obligated to identify himself.
  3. All people, at the moment of their detention, shall be informed of their rights;
  4. All detained people have the right to communicate immediately with their families, lawyer, or trusted people, who have the right to be informed of the location of the detained person and of the reasons for the detention.

 

Article 41. Prohibition of slavery

Slavery, serfdom, and the trade and traffic of persons are prohibited in all their forms.

 

Article 46. Freedom of travel (Part of it)

All persons that find themselves in the national territory have the right to travel, reside, and leave freely from the same, in accordance with legal dispositions.

 

Article 50. Freedom of enterprise (Part of it)

The State recognizes and guarantees free enterprise, commerce, and industry. All persons have the right to freely dedicate themselves to the economic activity of their preference, without more limitations than those prescribed in this Constitution and those established by the law.

  1. Monopolies shall not be permitted, except in favor of the state. The creation and organization of these monopolies shall be made by law. The State favors and safeguards free and loyal competition and shall adopt the necessary methods to avoid the harmful and restrictive effects of monopoly and of the abuse of the dominant position, establishing by law exceptions for cases of national security.
  2. The State may dictate methods to regulate the economy and to promote national plans for competitiveness and to spur the integral development of the country
  3. The State may grant concessions for the time and the form determined by law, when they are about the exploitation of natural resources or the extension of public services, always ensuring the existence of adequate remuneration or compensation in public interest and for the environmental equilibrium.

 

Article 51. Right of property (Part of it)

The State recognizes and guarantees the right of property. Property has a social function and implies obligations. All persons have the right to the full use, enjoyment, and disposal of their assets.

  1. No one may be deprived of his property, unless for a justified cause of public utility or social interest, previous payment of its just value determined by an agreement between the parties or the ruling of the appropriate court, in accordance with that established by law. In the case of the declaration of a State of Emergency or of Defense, the compensation may not be made previously.

 

Article 52. Right to intellectual property

The right to the exclusive property of scientific, literary, and artistic works, inventions, and innovations, names, brands, distinctive marks, and other productions of the human intellect for the time are recognized and protected, in the form and with the limitations established by law.

 

Article 53. Rights of the consumer

All persons have the right to enjoy quality goods and services, and objective, true, and opportune information about the content and characteristics of the products and services that they use or consume, under the previsions and norms established by law.

 

Article 55. Rights of the family (Part of it)

The family is the basis of society and the fundamental space for the integral development of people. It is formed by natural or legal ties, by the free decision of a man and a woman to enter into marriage or by the responsible willingness to conform to it.

1. All persons have the right to form a family, in whose formation and development the woman and man enjoy equal rights and duties and owe one another mutual understanding and reciprocal respect.

9. All sons and daughters are equal under the law, have equal rights and duties, and shall enjoy the same opportunities for social, spiritual, and physical development. All mentions of the nature of parentage are prohibited in the civil registers and in all identity documents.

 

Article 59. Right to housing

All persons have the right to dignified housing with basic essential services. The State should determine the necessary conditions to make effective this right and promote plans for housing and human settlements in the social interest. Legal access to titled real estate is a fundamental priority of public policy and the advancement of housing.

 

Article 61. Right to health

All persons have the right to integral health. Consequently:

  1. The State should safeguard the protection of the health of all persons, access to potable water, improvement of nutrition, sanitation services, hygienic conditions, environmental cleanliness, as well as procure means for the prevention and treatment of all sicknesses, ensuring access to quality medication and giving medical and hospital assistance for free to those who need it.
  2. The State shall guarantee, through legislation and public policies, the exercise of the economic and social rights of the low-income population and, consequently, shall lend its protection and assistance to vulnerable groups and sectors, shall fight social vices with the appropriate means and with the aid of international agreements and organizations.

 

Article 67. Protection of the environment

Preventing contamination, protecting and maintaining the environment for the enjoyment of present and future generations constitute duties of the State. Consequently:

  1. All people have the right, both individually and collectively, to the use and sustainable enjoyment of natural resources, to live in an environment that is healthy, ecologically balanced, and adequate for the development and preservation of the different forms of life, scenery and nature.
  2. The introduction, development, production, tenancy, commercialization, transportation, storage, and use of chemical, biological, nuclear, and agro-chemical weapons that are internationally banned is prohibited, as well as nuclear residues and toxic and dangerous waste.
  3. The State shall promote, in the public and private sector, the use of alternative and non-contaminating technologies and energies.
  4. In the contracts made by the State or in the permits that it grants that involve the use and exploitation of natural resources, it shall include consideration of the obligation to conserve the ecological equilibrium, the access to technology and its transference, as well as to reestablish the environment to its natural state, if it were to be changed.
  5. The public powers shall prevent and control the factors of environmental deterioration, shall impose legal sanctions, the objective responsibility for damages caused to the environment and to natural resources, and shall demand their repair. Additionally, they shall cooperate with other nations in the protection of ecosystems for the length of the marine and land borders.

 

Article 73. Nullity of acts that subvert constitutional order

Acts that are issued from usurped authority, actions or decisions of public powers, institutions or persons that alter or subvert the constitutional order and any decision made by requisition of armed force are null of full right.

 

Article 146. Prohibition of corruption

All forms of corruption in the organs of the State are condemned. Consequently:

  1. All persons who extract public funds or who, taking advantage of their positions within the organs and bodies of the State, its autonomous offices or institutions, obtains for himself or for third parties economic advantage, shall be penalized.
  2. In equal manner, a person who gives advantages to his associations, family, allies, friends or relationships shall be penalized.
  3. In accordance with that provided by law, sworn declarations of assets of male and female public officials, who always have the responsibility of proving the origin of their assets, before and after having terminated their office or at the request of the appropriate authority.
  4. To people who have been condemned for crimes of corruption the penalty of civic degradation shall be applied, and restitution for that they took in an illegal manner shall be required.
  5. The law may provide for periods of statute of limitations of longer duration than that which is ordinary for cases of crimes of corruption and a restrictive regimen of procedural benefits.

 

Article 217. Orientation and foundation

The economic regime is oriented towards the search for human development. It is based on economic growth, redistribution of wealth, social justice, equity, social and territorial cohesion and environmental sustainability in a framework of free competition, equality of opportunities, social responsibility, participation and solidarity.

 

Article 218. Sustainable growth

Private initiative is free. The State shall ensure, together with the private sector, an equilibrated and sustained growth of the economy, with stability of prices, tending toward full employment and the increase of social well-being, through rational utilization of the available resources, the permanent education of human resources and scientific and technological development.

 

Article 219. Private initiative

The State foments private economic initiative, creating policies necessary to promote the development of the country. Under the principle of subsidiarity of the State, by its own account or in association with the private and supportive sector, may exercise business activity with the end of ensuring access of the population to basic assets and services and promoting the national economy.

Paragraph

When the state sells off its participation in a business, it may take the methods conducive to democratizing the ownership of its actions and offer to its workers, the solidarity organizations of workers, special conditions to gain said active property. The law shall regulate the subject.

 

Article 228. Issue of bills and coins

The Central Bank, whose capital is property of the State, is the sole issuer of bills and coins of national circulation and has as its objective to watch for the stability of prices.

 

Article 229. National monetary unit

The national monetary unit is the Dominican Peso.

 

Article 230. Legal force and tender of the monetary unit

Only bills issues and coins minted by the Central Bank shall have legal circulation and tender, under the unlimited guarantee of the State and in the proportions and conditions indicated by law.

 

Article 231. Prohibition of the issuance of monetary signs

The issuance of paper, coins, or other monetary signs not authorized by this Constitution is prohibited. 

 


 

Facts of Dominican Republic’s Constitution

Preamble (Part of it)

We, representative of the Dominican people, freely and democratically elected, assembled in the National Revisory Assembly, invoking the name of God.


Article 34

The National Motto is “God, Country, and Liberty”.