Bikers in front of Intrant waiting to be regulated.
Santo Domingo, DR.
Angel Leonel Canó, a representative of a group of lawyers in the country, informed that he, together with the group of jurists, deposited an Action of Protection of Extreme Urgency before the Superior Administrative Court (TSA) against the implementation of the plan imposed by the Institute of Transit and Transport (Intrant) to register motorcyclists.
This rebuke was expressed to the director of Listín Diario Miguel Franjul in response to his editorial of Saturday, June 16, called “Machines of death.” Below we leave the communication.
Greetings, Mr. Franjul.
Thank you for opening the opportunity to shed some light on what we have commented on via Instagram regarding your editorial “Machines of Death.”
Indeed the motorcycle statistics in our country do not correspond to one that pretends to protect life and take care of motorcycle users. However, a large segment of our population is concerned about protecting their lives, riding their motorcycles wisely and enjoying the thrills and freedom that riding a motorcycle offers, or simply being able to safely use the motorcycle as an element of transportation in daily life and work.
Regulation is on the fringes of this, with authorities currently more focused on enforcing and making life impossible for the motorcyclist than on educating and guiding the rider towards a safer lifestyle. In addition, the legal framework is precarious and lacks a local context, having been imported from Colombia.
What is currently happening in the country is a “registration” process that the authorities claim is part of the “My Safe Country” plan. The latter is a laudable attempt by the central government to focus on specific policies to reduce citizen insecurity that we all suffer.
Since 2021 we identified that the plan to register motorcycles lacks a legal basis for not being within the attributions of INTRANT, nor exposed as a mandatory registration in Law 63-17, which is VERY delicate. Therefore, it is essential to point out some elements to enlighten you and why it constitutes a clear violation of fundamental rights:
– In the transit law 63-17, nor any other law, including the transit regulations, there is this registry, nor is INTRANT attributed with the execution of citizen security policies. This is a usurpation of functions of other state organs, violating the fundamental right to good administration.
– With this execution, motorcycles already registered following the law at the DGII are registered, being up to date in their legal documentation for circulation. This means license plate, registration, and insurance, the only requirements established by law for legal circulation and having the license.
– INTRANT, through this registry, justifies the issuance of a license parallel to the one already established in the law, violating the legal framework of transit which indicates that citizens should only have one (1) license with the authorized driving categories.
– This “license,” parallel to the legal and regular license established in the law, restricts the motorcycle and the owner to the use of THAT motorcycle with THAT helmet, violating the user’s right to property and freedom of transit.
– In addition, it is assigned a numbering and QR code, with data storage in a private web domain (intramoto.com) instead of a public one (.gob.do), leaving the management of citizen information in the hands of third parties outside the public administration, violating the fundamental rights to privacy and personal honor, in addition to the data protection law.
– The most sensitive violations occur at the time of auditing. The first element is the presumption of innocence in that, without having committed any infraction, the motorcyclist is harassed, detained, and “if not registered,” the motorcycle is seized without words, even if the driver has all his documentation up to date. It is as if all motorcyclists are de facto criminals and ride illegally with their papers up to date. The second element corresponds to the right to the property since, without a legal provision supporting such seizure or a conviction that orders it, the motorcyclist is stripped of his property in the middle of a public road. This has already been ruled on multiple occasions, including by the SCJ, where it has been established that this type of seizure is frankly unconstitutional and irregular.
In short, Mr. Franjul, the list of illegitimate elements of this registry is quite extensive, and the authorities have ignored it. For this reason, since 2021, we have raised our voice with the #YoAndoLegal in addition to submitting this to the Ombudsman, ordering INTRANT to “refrain from executing the registration” for not being framed in the law and configuring violations of fundamental rights.
I take this opportunity to inform you that recently a group of united professionals has filed an Action of Protection of Extreme Urgency which will be heard by the TSA next Wednesday, July 20, at 9 am. We hope to be able to stop this arbitrary measure that is causing more harm than good to the population, affecting the economic and social rights, in addition to the emotional and psychological stability of all motorcycle users. Furthermore, the precedent of allowing this is disastrous: today, it is with motorcycles, but tomorrow it will be with other things.