Dominican Republic Judge Selection Advances: 88 Vie for Six Supreme Court Seats
POLITICS · DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Key Facts
- —The country The Dominican Republic, where the Supreme Court of Justice is the highest court for civil, criminal, labour, land and administrative appeals.
- —What happened On Tuesday 29 September the National Council of the Magistracy, which appoints top judges, rejected the only objection filed against its shortlist of candidates (council statement, 29 September).
- —The numbers 88 shortlisted candidates for six seats, including the court presidency (Listín Diario, El Nacional, 29 September). Five sitting judges were confirmed for seven-year terms on 8 September.
- —What it means for you A new court president and five new judges will decide final appeals in business, property, labour and criminal cases for years.
- —Still open Hearing dates. The council promised its call for hearings for Wednesday 30 September; it had not appeared by midday. Listín Diario reports a target of swearing in the judges on 23 October.
The Dominican Republic judge selection for the Supreme Court of Justice has cleared its objection stage and now moves to public hearings. On Tuesday 29 September the National Council of the Magistracy (CNM) rejected the only objection filed against its shortlist.
The council has 88 candidates for six seats, including the presidency of the court, according to Listín Diario and El Nacional. It said it would publish the call for hearings on Wednesday 30 September, with the dates to follow in due course.
Why six seats are open
The vacancies trace back to a performance review the council completed on 8 September. It kept five sitting judges for seven-year terms: Justiniano Montero, Fran Euclides Soto, Anselmo Bello, Samuel Arias Arzeno and Rafael Vásquez Goico.
That decision added two vacancies to those already open, bringing the total to six, the council said. Nominations closed on 10 September and registrations on 15 September.
Local outlets reported on 17 September that the council had shortlisted 88 applicants and excluded two. The list was then open to formal objections.
Only one objection arrived, and the council did not say whom it concerned. It rejected the challenge after reviewing it, according to its statement.
Who picks the judges
The CNM is an eight-member body set up by the constitution. On Tuesday it met online, chaired by Vice President Raquel Peña on behalf of President Luis Abinader.
Five members hold elected office, led by Abinader and the heads of both chambers of Congress. Senator Omar Fernández and Deputy Tobías Crespo complete the political side.
The other three are judges: Supreme Court president Luis Henry Molina, fellow justice Nancy Salcedo and Constitutional Court president Napoleón Estévez Lavandier. Molina thus sits on the council that will fill his own post.
All eight attended Tuesday’s session on the Dominican Republic judge selection, the council said. For wider background, see Dominican Republic Explained 2026: The Country, Its Economy, Its Politics and What to Watch.
Open hearings, and the doubts about them
Supporters of the process point to its public phase. Under the council’s Regulation 1-25, candidates are questioned in public hearings, and the shortlist was open to objections.
Critics say the method has not taken politics out of the top job. El Nacional noted on 20 September that none of the court’s three presidents since 1997 came from the career judiciary.
The paper said Jorge Subero Isa, Mariano Germán and Molina were each linked to a political party when chosen. It also reported that lawyer Fernando Langa Ferreira is widely expected to succeed Molina.
According to El Nacional, Langa Ferreira has business and religious backing and strong support inside the governing Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM). The council has made no choice, and that expectation is not independently confirmed.
The party calendar in the background
The hearings come as parties start sorting out candidates for the 2028 general election. The PRM has begun provincial tours to prepare the choice of its presidential candidate in 2027, El Nacional reported on Wednesday.
Peña, who chaired Tuesday’s council session, is pressing on with her own bid for that nomination, according to her political team. Abinader is serving his second and final term.
The opposition faces its own contests, including an open quarrel inside the former ruling party. That dispute is covered in Dominican Republic’s Former Ruling Party Feuds Over Its 2028 Candidate.
What Is Not Yet Known
The call for hearings had not appeared by early Wednesday afternoon, so the hearing dates are still unknown. It has also not said whom the rejected objection targeted, or on what grounds.
Listín Diario reported that the council aims to swear in the new judges on Friday 23 October. The council’s published statements do not mention that date.
The order of the 88 hearings is unclear. The council has not said whether the new president will come from the bench or from outside it.
Sources: Presidency of the Dominican Republic / CNM statement (29 September 2026); CNM statement on confirmed judges (8 September 2026); Listín Diario (29 September 2026); El Nacional (29 September 2026); El Día (29 September 2026); El Nacional analysis (20 September 2026); El Nacional on the PRM (30 September 2026); El Nacional on Raquel Peña (29 September 2026).
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