The Judicial Branch and the National School of the Judiciary (ENJ) concluded the specialized course "Judicial Communication", organized by the "Adriano Miguel Tejada" Chair of Justice and Communication, created with the purpose of generating an academic space to reflect on judicial communication in the Dominican Republic.
The closing of the month-long virtual course was celebrated with a panel entitled "Good practices to optimize judicial communication and communicational justice", led by magistrates Nancy Salcedo, Samuel Arias Arzeno and Rafael Vásquez Goico, of the Supreme Court of Justice, and the prominent journalist Edith Febles.
Ángel Brito, Director of the ENJ, gave the welcoming remarks to the panel, moderated by Javier Cabreja, General Coordinator of Communications and Public Affairs of the Judicial Branch.
The panelists' conversation focused on how to improve the relationship between judges and journalists, enhancing access to justice and transparency through clearer and more effective communication.
They also reflected on the need to build bridges of understanding between society and the Judiciary, supported by the media, academia and civil society.
They also stressed the importance of journalists contributing to building a perception that the public sees justice as a reliable, accessible and transparent institution.
It was explained that the purpose of the course is to increasingly improve communication in the Judicial Branch, as a way of contributing to bringing this branch of government closer to society.
In her reflection, Judge Nancy Salcedo stressed the importance of the Judicial Branch being connected with society, and added that it is not enough for the Dominican Constitution to state that the processes must be public if the operators of the same do not know how to communicate.
Likewise, Vasquez Goico pointed out that without communication, judges cannot fulfill their function of deciding the processes of which they are in charge, and added that judges and journalists must build a relationship of understanding of the role that each one plays in relation to those they communicate with.
Arias Arzeno emphasized the importance of journalists communicating adequately what judges say through their decisions, although "there is no more difficult product to sell than justice when we have to decide, because only 50% are in agreement with the decision, so we have to see how to explain to society and to the parties why a certain decision is made".
Finally, Edith Febles stated that judges must fulfill their duty to explain themselves so that the public opinion can understand them, so that their decisions are not misinterpreted, "since the publicity of oral, public and contradictory trials is closely linked to the right of citizens to know the outcome of the proceedings", especially those in the media, which is where people form their own judgment.
The final words of the panel, which was attended by judges from different judicial departments, journalists, professors and communicators, were delivered by Justice Francisco Ortega Polanco, of the Supreme Court of Justice and national director of the Chair of Justice and Communication, who maintains that the first means of communication between a judge and society is the sentence.
The course included the participation of national and international experts, who addressed topics such as the fundamentals of judicial communication, how to communicate effectively, the use of ICTs, media cases and communication nomenclature, preparing participants to face current challenges in the field of judicial communication.
