Rights during investigation - self incrimination

Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic - Constitution 2015 EN

Title II: On fundamental rights, guarantees and duties
Chapter II: On the Guarantees to Fundamental Rights

Article 69: Effective judicial guardianship and due process
All persons, in the exercise of their rights and legitimate interests, have the right to obtain effective judicial guardianship, with respect to the due process that shall be formed by the minimum guarantees that are established in the following:
6. No one may be obligated to self-incriminate.

Dominican Republic - Constitution 2015 ES

Article 40: Right to liberty and personal security
All people have a right to liberty and personal security. Accordingly:

• Protection from unjustified restraint 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;

• Right to counsel 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;

• Protection from unjustified restraint 5. All people deprived of their liberty shall be submitted to the appropriate judicial authority within forty-eight hours of their detention or freed. The appropriate judicial authority shall notify the interested person, within the same time period, of the decision dictated to that effect.

6. All people deprived of their liberty without cause or without the legal formalities or outside of cases provided for by law, shall be immediately freed at his request or at that of any other person.

7. All people may be freed once the imposed penalty has been completed or an order for freedom has been given by the appropriate authority;

8. No one may be submitted to methods of coercion unless by his own making ;

9. The methods of coercion, restrictive of personal liberty, are of special character and their application should be proportional to the danger that they attempt to guard against;

• Rights of debtors 10. Physical constraint may not be established for debts that do not come from an infraction against the penal laws;

11. Every person that has a detained person under their guard is obligated to present him as soon as is required by the appropriate authority;

12. The transfer of any detained person from a prison to another location without an order written and caused by the appropriate authority is strictly prohibited;

14. No one is criminally responsible for that done by another;

• Principle of no punishment without law 15. No one can be obligated to do that which the law does not order nor kept from doing that which the law does not prohibit. The law is equal for all: it may only order that which is just and useful for the community and it may not prohibit more than what is harmful.

16. Punishments that deprive freedom and the means of security shall be oriented towards reeducation and social reinsertion of the condemned person and may not consist of forced work;

17. In the exercise of the sanctioning power established by law, the Public Administration may not impose sanctions that implicate the deprivation of liberty in a direct or subsidiary form.

Article 69: Effective judicial guardianship and due process

All persons, in the exercise of their rights and legitimate interests, have the right to obtain effective judicial guardianship, with respect to the due process that shall be formed by the minimum guarantees that are established in the following:

• Right to speedy trial 1. The right to accessible, timely, and free justice.

• Judicial independence
• Right to speedy trial 2. The right to be heard, within a reasonable period and by a competent, independent, and impartial jurisdiction, established previously by law.

• Presumption of innocence in trials 3. The right to be presumed innocent and treated accordingly, while not having been declared guilt by an irrevocable sentence.

• Right to counsel
• Right to public trial 4. The right to a public, oral, and adversarial trial, in all equality and with respect to the right of defense.

• Prohibition of double jeopardy 5. No person may be judged twice for the same charge.

• Protection from self-incrimination 6. No one may be obligated to self-incriminate.

• Protection from ex post facto laws
• Principle of no punishment without law 7. No one may be judged in any way but in accordance to the laws that preexisted the act for which they are charged, before a judge or competent tribunal, and with observance of the full scope of the customs that pertain to each case.

• Regulation of evidence collection 8. Proof that is obtained through violation of the law is null.

• Right to appeal judicial decisions


9. All sentences may be appealed in accordance with the law. The superior court may not increase the sanction imposed when the only person to make an appeal is the convicted person.

10. The norms of due process shall be applied to all kinds of judicial and administrative conduct.

Dominican Republic - Cooperation with ICC 2018 ES

Artículo 62.- Verificaciones de la audiencia. En la audiencia se constatará lo siguiente:
1) Verificará la identidad del detenido, el contenido de la orden de detención y las circunstancias previstas en el párrafo 2 del artículo 59 del Estatuto de Roma.
2) Informará al detenido de los motivos de la detención y los detalles de la solicitud de entrega de la Corte Penal Internacional:
a) Que se le presume inocente mientras no se pruebe su culpabilidad ante la Corte Penal Internacional.
b) Que no está obligado a declarar contra si mismo ni a declararse culpable, pudiendo guardar silencio sin que ello vaya a tenerse en cuenta a los efectos de determinar su culpabilidad o inocencia.
c) Del procedimiento de entrega a la Corte Penal Internacional previsto en la presente ley y en el Estatuto de Roma. Se le hará saber que tiene derecho a un/a abogado/a defensor/a particular o de oficio del Estado.
d) Dejará constancia de sus manifestaciones respecto del contenido de la solicitud de la Corte, las que deberán ser efectuadas en presencia del/de la defensor/a. El/a defensor/a o el/la asesor/a letrado/a podrá inmediatamente consultar el expediente y comunicarse libremente con la persona detenida.
3) Consultará a la persona detenida, previa consulta con su defensor/a, si desea prestar conformidad a la entrega, informándole que de así hacerlo se pondrá fin al trámite judicial. La persona detenida podrá reservarse la respuesta a esta consulta para un momento ulterior.
4) Dará participación a la Fiscalía de la Corte Penal Internacional quien podrá asistir e intervenir en la audiencia.
Párrafo.- Si el detenido desea contratar defensor/a particular, el/a Juez/a dará un plazo de veinticuatro (24) horas para que éste/a sea informado/a y pueda tener acceso a su defendido/a. Agotado el plazo, y no teniendo por apersonado al/a la abogado/a defensor/a, se nombrará un/a abogado/a defensor/a de oficio.

Rome Statute

Article 55 Rights of persons during an investigation

1. In respect of an investigation under this Statute, a person:

(a) Shall not be compelled to incriminate himself or herself or to confess guilt;