{"id":519240,"date":"2026-08-02T11:20:48","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T15:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.net\/en\/uncategorized\/this-monday-august-3rd-the-new-penal-code-of-the-dr-comes-into-effect\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T11:20:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T15:20:48","slug":"this-monday-august-3rd-the-new-penal-code-of-the-dr-comes-into-effect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/dominican-news\/this-monday-august-3rd-the-new-penal-code-of-the-dr-comes-into-effect\/","title":{"rendered":"This Monday, August 3rd, the new Penal Code of the DR comes into effect"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The regulation replaces the old penal framework, incorporates new crimes, updates sanctions, and establishes changes regarding freedom of expression, the practice of medicine, corporate liability, and the protection of minors<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Santo Domingo.<\/strong>\u2013 Starting this Monday, August 3, 2026, the new Penal Code of the Dominican Republic<\/strong> officially enters into force, beginning a new stage in the country’s criminal justice system with the application of legislation that incorporates new criminal offenses, toughens and updates penalties, and adapts the legal framework to current realities.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the implementation of the regulation, judges, prosecutors, and other justice system operators must apply the new provisions in the corresponding proceedings, after the conclusion of the one-year vacatio legis<\/em> period<\/strong> established for institutions to adapt their procedures to the new legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might be interested in: <\/strong>New Penal Code toughens penalties for administrative corruption<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Luis Abinader<\/strong> enacted the amendments to the Penal Code on the night of July 27, after the bill was approved by both chambers of the National Congress following a review conducted by a bicameral commission, which incorporated changes requested by different sectors of society.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The official announcement of the enactment was made by the Presidency of the Republic at 11:14 at night. Through decree 507-26<\/strong>, the president also ordered the creation of a monitoring commission in charge of evaluating future reforms to the Penal Code, chaired by the former president of the Constitutional Court, Milton Ray Guevara. Its members will perform their duties on an honorary basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the aspects that drew the most attention during the legislative discussion was that related to crimes against honor and freedom of expression.<\/strong> The modifications introduce adjustments to the provisions on defamation, slander, acts that do not constitute defamation, dissemination of images and audio without consent, cyberbullying, and outrage against public officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The purpose of these changes is to define punishable conduct with greater clarity and avoid interpretations that could affect the practice of journalism<\/strong>, freedom of the press, and the citizen’s right to information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the main innovations is the toughening of penalties for administrative corruption crimes<\/strong>, a measure that strengthens the judicial system’s ability to sanction more firmly conduct that harms the public interest and affects citizens’ trust in institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The text also incorporates modifications in response to concerns raised by the medical sector. The regulation establishes that criminal liability for doctors and health centers can only be established when there is a serious and inexcusable fault in professional practice,<\/strong> in accordance with the principles of lex artis<\/em>, with the aim of offering greater legal certainty to those who practice medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new legislation also strengthens the legal tools to prosecute crimes committed through digital technologies<\/strong> and expands the protection of children and adolescents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The previous Penal Code remained in force for 142 years<\/strong>. It was enacted through Decree No. 2274 of August 20, 1884<\/strong>, inspired by the French Penal Code of 1810,<\/strong> and since then it received numerous partial modifications, but never a comprehensive replacement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The regulation replaces the old penal framework, incorporates new crimes, updates sanctions, and establishes changes regarding freedom of expression, the practice of medicine, corporate liability, and the protection of minors Santo Domingo.\u2013 Starting this Monday, August 3, 2026, the new Penal Code of the Dominican Republic officially enters into force, beginning a new stage in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":519241,"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":[44182,41205,44542],"class_list":["post-519240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dominican-news","tag-cover","tag-penal-code","tag-validity"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phj1q1-2b4Q","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/Copia-de-Copia-de-Post-de-Instagram-Feliz-Cumpleanos-Sencillo-Minimalista-Azul-1000-x-500-px-88.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\/08\/Copia-de-Copia-de-Post-de-Instagram-Feliz-Cumpleanos-Sencillo-Minimalista-Azul-1000-x-500-px-88.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519240","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=519240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/519241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}