Justice Justiniano Montero Montero, judge of the Civil and Commercial Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ); and the general director of Ethics and Government Integrity, Dr. Milagros Ortiz Bosch, agreed that the protection of data and the principle of human dignity are very well conceived and protected in Law No. 339-22 on the Use of Digital Media in the Judiciary.
They argue that the legal text assumes as its own the principles and regulations enshrined in the Constitution on this matter, as the construction of a true regulatory structure, in terms of data protection, which is strengthened in the international context by the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights and the binding jurisprudence on this matter, both of the Constitutional Court and the Inter-American Court.
Judge Montero in the context of the international meeting, sponsored by the European Union, as part of a project of support and twinning for digital transformation, said that data protection is also safeguarded in Law 172-13, which aims at the comprehensive protection of personal data recorded in public and private archives.
Likewise, in Law 4-23 on Civil Status Acts, which establishes that the use of biometric data, collection and treatment must be done respecting the privacy of individuals. Likewise, as established in Law 136-03 which creates the Code for the System of Protection and Rights of Children and Adolescents, whose article 18 recognizes the right to honor, reputation and image.
Magistrate Montero's statements were made during his participation in the panel "The importance of data, transparency and public policies", where he explained that the law on the Use of Digital Media assumes that the name must be preserved, the sensitive data that may arise in a process, preserving the privacy of domicile, image and that the data must be complete, convincing and confidential. In this sense, within the framework of the dissertation, he explained.
"So, normatively, there seems to be no doubt that we are sitting in the right institutional lane," he said.
He also explained that Law 339-22 regulates matters related to guaranteeing the publicity of hearings and files and, in turn, is linked to the axis of transparency established in the institutional Strategic Plan of the Judicial Branch.
"The right to publicity of the judicial file cannot prevail over personal data, from which it follows that a suitable formula must be devised to preserve both legal contexts. In that order, things that do not concern transparency do not have to be exposed," he explained.
He indicated that the specific challenge facing the Judicial Branch is to create a culture of respect for the fundamental rights of individuals and the handling of personal data in the context of communication and technology.
He pointed out as another important goal to educate the actors involved in the Justice System, among them the Public Prosecutor's Office, the National Police and the investigative bodies of the State, where in his opinion a vision of public ethics and human rights must prevail, as an environment of coexistence and safeguarding of social peace and protection of the citizenship, which must respect the sensitive information of a judicial process.
Dr. Milagros Ortiz Bosch explained that during the pandemic, the Judicial Power Council, through a resolution, sought a way to introduce the correct use of technology in the hearings, and this modality in the judicial service was recognized by the National Congress, so that today there is a law, which is a step forward.
"We must move towards a justice system that is capable of modernizing, preserving the law in principle, but that provides human beings with the right to a fair, transparent, reliable and timely trial, and this does not happen in isolation," said Dr. Ortiz Bosch.
Rosaura Quiñones, Director of Public Policy of the Judiciary, also spoke on the panel, explaining that transparency and the effective use of information have significant repercussions for the judiciary, as it helps to improve confidence in the justice system, strengthen the systems that incorporate it and promote citizen participation.
"Some of the achievements we have had as the Judicial Branch of the Dominican Republic in these aspects include the implementation of the judicial ladder, the program to strengthen the judicial inspectorate, improvements in the transparency index measured by the Dominican state," explained Quiñones.
