US embassy cable - 05SANTODOMINGO154

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