‘Interests’ beleaguer the Constitutional Court: Journalist

Santo Domingo.- The editor-in-chief of the country’s leading newspaper on Wednesday called Dominican Republic’s Constitutional Court “is being beleaguered by political and other interests."

Diario Libre editor Adriano Miguel Tejada noted however that he’s not surprised. "That’s the tribunal’s nature."

He said since many of the Court’s rulings affect Government policies and political interests, “they’re criticized even from heads of State."

"In fact, constitutional courts, when they properly play their part, break with the nations’ comfortable status quo. The creation of the Constitutional Court prods the social body and gives those who passively watch the violation of their rights new strength to fight,” the journalist said, quoted by elcaribe.com.do.

Tejada, who’s also a constitutional attorney, said for the authorities, Constitutional courts are a kind of curse from the sky that forces them to adjust their actions to the rule of law. "By far, constitutional courts constitute the triumph of law and order which society yearns for, in the face of the excesses, negligence and bad practices of the authorities."

"The constitutional courts have restated the model of a contemporary State, giving full effect, in a few cases, to what the constitutional text and others stipulate, creating innovative ways in the relationship between the individual and the State."

He said that the determination of the constitutional courts "is neither always well understood nor accepted by the actors in the political system who prefer to continue to operate with "the same old systems."

"What’s unacceptable is that these actors seek to disrespect or denigrate the courts because of the result of their actions,” Tejada said in the release of the Constitutional Court Yearbook, headed by chief justice Milton Ray Guevara.