Santo Domingo.– The Senate of the Republic, under the leadership of its president, Senator Ricardo de los Santos, concludes the year 2025 as one of the most productive periods in its institutional history, with the approval of transcendental legislative initiatives long demanded by Dominican society.
Among the main laws approved, the following stand out: the Criminal Code, which incorporates new criminal offenses in line with current challenges; the Criminal Procedure Code, aimed at strengthening fundamental rights and due judicial process; as well as the creation of the Ministry of Justice.
Other important projects that stand out are the approval of the piece that regulates the Retentive Embargo, the Law that declares every November 8th as the “National Stem Day” and the Law that provides for the Installation of Renewable Energy Sources in Public and Private Buildings.
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Also, the National Congress knows the Labor Code, a piece that contemplates as a new achievement the permanence of severance pay for workers, the inclusion of the telecommuting modality, the extension of marriage leave, as well as the granting of 20 minutes three times a day to mothers in the period of breastfeeding.
Similarly, the initiative regulating the rental of real estate and evictions was approved, a regulation that stands out because the owner may demand from the tenant, as a deposit, an amount no greater than two months of the rental price; as well as the Organic Law of Supervision and Control of the National Congress, and the law that creates the National Directorate of Investigations, DNI.
The Upper House stood out this year for promoting an innovative agenda that included the holding of the “Parliaments and Prosperity 2025” forum, in which the then secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, participated; as well as legislators, entrepreneurs and academics from Uruguay, Panama, Colombia and Chile to debate focusing on issues of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and economics.
The senators held a historic session in San Pedro de Macorís on the city’s 143rd anniversary and in commemoration of the 118th anniversary of its designation as a province.
To strengthen the institutional agenda, the Senate of the Republic signed collaboration agreements with important institutions such as the Constitutional Court (TC), with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), with the Dominican Professional Baseball League (LIDOM), the Universidad del Caribe (UNICARIBE), with the El Buen Samaritano foundation, with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, with the Parliament of Jamaica, the National Institute for Technical and Vocational Training (INFOTEP), among others.
The Senate stood out for recognizing the trajectory of important personalities and institutions that have excelled in art, politics, sports, education, justice, and other areas.
In addition to the permanent commissions, senators are actively working in the bicameral commissions that are studying the modification to the General Health Law and the Law that creates the Social Security System. Also in the special commissions that are in charge of the study of the bill that modifies Organic Law No. 5090-16, referring to the National Police, chaired by Senator Franklin Romero; the one that studies the bill that modifies the Mental Health Law, chaired by Senator Moisés Ayala, and the one that analyzes the exchange project that seeks to benefit families who do not have property titles, chaired by Senator Aracelis Villanueva.
During this year, Ricardo de los Santos received important recognitions for his work in the Upper Chamber, among which the one from the Dominican Association of Opinion Producers of Public Media, Inc. (ASODOPROM) stands out; from the World Academy of Business and Education, within the framework of the XXVIII World Summit of Business and Education, among others.
De los Santos also accompanied President Luis Abinader at the inauguration of the UASD-Cotuí Regional University Center and an extension of the Technological Institute of the Americas (ITLA) in Sánchez Ramírez province and, in coordination with the Ministry of Energy and Mines, participated in the inauguration of important works that bring electricity to localities in his province, positively impacting his community.
