{"id":513321,"date":"2026-07-05T11:50:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T15:50:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.net\/en\/uncategorized\/public-defense-director-denounces-delays-in-coercion-measures-due-to-lack-of-prisoner-transfers\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T11:50:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T15:50:29","slug":"public-defense-director-denounces-delays-in-coercion-measures-due-to-lack-of-prisoner-transfers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/dominican-news\/public-defense-director-denounces-delays-in-coercion-measures-due-to-lack-of-prisoner-transfers\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Defense Director denounces delays in coercion measures due to lack of prisoner transfers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Santo Domingo, D.N.\u2013 <\/strong>The National Director of the National Public Defense Office, Lic. Rodolfo Valent\u00edn Santos, denounces that there is a serious backlog in the scheduling of coercion measure hearings at the new Palace of Justice<\/a> on Sabana Larga Avenue, in Santo Domingo East, known as the Judicial City, due to the failure to transport the defendants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Valent\u00edn Santos explained that in the Permanent Attention Office of the Judicial City, around 60 hearings are being scheduled daily in each of the three shifts. However, more than 90% of those hearings are postponed because the accused citizens are not brought to the courts on the day of the appointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more: Rodolfo Valent\u00edn highlights progress in access, infrastructure, and modernization of the judicial system<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Director described the situation as “a gross violation” of the 48-hour constitutional and legal deadline established in Article 40, numeral 5 of the Constitution of the Republic. That mandate requires that every detained person be brought before the competent judicial authority within 48 hours of their arrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have cases of people who have been detained for up to 30 days without having seen a judge. This constitutes a serious violation of due process and effective judicial protection. We cannot continue to normalize a citizen losing their freedom without judicial oversight,\u201d stated Valent\u00edn Santos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As detailed, the main problem lies in the fact that the San Luis Detention Center is full. For that reason, the Public Prosecutor’s Office is sending detainees to different police stations. However, at the time the hearing is held, those citizens are not transported to the Judicial City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The director pointed out that this logistical failure directly affects the most vulnerable population, which depends on the Public Defense service. Furthermore, it overloads the judicial agenda, delays all processes, and generates an unnecessary expenditure of resources for the State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen there are no buses, means of transport, no personnel, or no coordination, the one who pays the consequences is the citizen. This is not a minor administrative problem. It is a violation of fundamental rights that must be corrected immediately,\u201d stated the Director of the Public Defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, Valent\u00edn Santos made an urgent call to the Attorney General’s Office, the National Police, and the corresponding authorities to guarantee the necessary resources to allow for the timely transfer of the defendants. \u201cRespect for the 48-hour period is non-negotiable. It is a constitutional mandate and we must comply with it so that justice is real,\u201d<\/em><\/strong> he concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Santo Domingo, D.N.\u2013 The National Director of the National Public Defense Office, Lic. Rodolfo Valent\u00edn Santos, denounces that there is a serious backlog in the scheduling of coercion measure hearings at the new Palace of Justice on Sabana Larga Avenue, in Santo Domingo East, known as the Judicial City, due to the failure to transport […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":514258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[40216],"tags":[43601,40804,42006,40231,44344,40853],"class_list":["post-513321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dominican-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-complaint","tag-defendants","tag-dominican-republic","tag-public-defense","tag-thetruthnewspaper"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phj1q1-29xn","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/Plantilla-para-portal-2026-07-05T114635.397.jpg","dum_api":{"author_name":"Redacci\u00f3n De \u00daltimo Minuto","author_image":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/cropped-logo-de-ultimo-minuto-96x96.png","categories_name":["Dominican News"],"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cdn.deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/Plantilla-para-portal-2026-07-05T114635.397.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}