PRESENTATION OF THE BOOK BY THE PRESIDING JUDGE OF THE
DOMINICAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
DR. MILTON RAY GUEVARA
NATIONAL LIBRARY
DECEMBER 18, 2023
It is a great honor and a tremendous privilege for me to present the fourth volume of speeches by the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court of the Dominican Republic, Dr. Milton Ray Guevara, who was my professor of Constitutional Law at the then Madre y Maestra Catholic University (now Pontifical) on its beautiful campus in Santiago de los Caballeros, which fills me with pride and satisfaction.
A special feature of this volume is that it contains the speeches given by Chief Justice Ray Guevara on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Constitutional Court, which was created by the 2010 Constitution and began operating on January 26, 2012, after its first members were appointed and sworn in by the National Council of the Judiciary at the end of December 2011. This event—the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Constitutional Court—allowed Chief Justice Ray Guevara to take stock, with the perspective that time provides, of the court’s progress during that first cycle of its institutional life in many of his speeches.
In many of his speeches included in this volume, the chief justice expresses, with a sense of both amazement and satisfaction, that when the Constitutional Court formally began its work, both he and the other justices who were part of the first roster of this high court had only the 2010 Constitution and the organic law of the court in their hands. They literally had to start from scratch, which meant that they had to build this new institution institutionally, materially, and culturally, as it constitutes one of the most important pieces of the political-constitutional machinery that was embodied in that Constitution. The pages of this book trace the history of that institutional construction, a task shared by the judges, lawyers, and administrative staff, under the leadership of Chief Justice Ray Guevara.
This work is not—nor does it claim to be—a treatise on constitutional law. However, in the texts that appear in it, which were delivered in different contexts, from accountability events to the inauguration of an academic training course, among many others, one can identify fundamental lines of thought that make up a body of doctrine that constitutes a first-rate contribution to constitutional thought in the Dominican Republic. These pages also reflect the efforts made by the Constitutional Court in its jurisdictional, educational, promotional, and social interaction work.
With regard to the lines of thought that stand out most in the speeches of the presiding judge, the following can be highlighted:
First, the emphasis on constitutional supremacy as a fundamental part of a democracy that places the Constitution at the top of the legal system, to which all the rules and actions of the public authorities must be subject. That is why we find, in many of the speeches, the idea of the constitutionalization of law, that is, how constitutional law permeates the other branches of law and has become, in the words of the presiding judge, the “common law” of our time and our legal context.
Second, the importance that the Constitutional Court attaches to it as the guarantor of that constitutional supremacy, as well as the defense of the constitutional order and the protection of fundamental rights. Reading these pages, we can empathize with the decisions of the Constitutional Court of which the presiding judge is most proud. We can see the passion with which he explains how the Constitutional Court has defended the environment in the cases of Loma Miranda and Cayo Levantado, or how it has defended the right to education or protected vulnerable smallholders or the widow who was denied the right to a pension because she was in a de facto rather than a legal relationship, but based on stability over time with her life partner. He also highlights the Constitutional Court’s defense of freedom of expression, as well as the right to equality for Dominicans, regardless of whether or not they reside in the country, when it comes to paying inheritance taxes, the issue of nationality, the recognition of popular action, among many others.
Thirdly, these pages contain ideas, arguments, and memorable phrases regarding the importance of creating a constitutional culture. At every opportunity, the presiding judge emphasizes, with conviction, the importance of “living in the Constitution.” It could be said that this is the central idea, the core of this book; that is, Chief Justice Ray Guevara’s conviction that the Constitution and constitutional supremacy are not mere rhetorical formulations, disconnected from the lives and feelings of each and every Dominican. For him, it is essential to create a constitutional culture, so that people know the Constitution and cling to it as the roadmap for our nation. That is why he makes a connection between the Constitution and happiness, arguing that those who “live by the Constitution” are happy, because it contains the rights that belong to each person, but also the duties whose fulfillment is fundamental to life in society.
Fourth, the pages of this book recount the still young history of the institutional construction of the Constitutional Court in terms of its administrative procedures, working methods, strategic planning, and the distribution of tasks and responsibilities within an organizational framework in which each person has a specific role to play. This is extremely important because, in addition to showing the path taken and the vision of where the court is headed, the reflections of the presiding judge on the structural and functional dimension of this body can serve as an example to other institutions, both in the jurisdictional sphere and in any other type.
Fifth, Chief Justice Ray Guevara explains, in many of his speeches, an aspect related to the creation of a “constitutional culture,” that is, the educational work of the Constitutional Court by mandate of the law, but also out of conviction, both on his part and on the part of the other justices, that the highest interpreter of the Constitution has a responsibility to disseminate constitutional values. For this reason, the presiding judge tells us about the court’s initiatives in terms of, first, its editorial work, with the publication of valuable works; second, its educational work, through courses and seminars for different segments of society; and third, its dissemination work, through the Constitutional Court’s television program and newsletter. In this section, we should also highlight the trilogy of master classes that the Constitutional Court has created to recognize the contribution of certain personalities and promote certain values. The first master class is entitled “Juan Pablo Duarte: Constitutional Democracy”; the second, “Dr. Manuel Bergés Chupani: Judicial Integrity”; and the third, “Hermanas Mirabal Master Class.” The pages of this book contain the motivating ideas behind these lectures, which are forums for promoting values related to constitutional democracy, ethics in the exercise of judicial work, gender equality, and the struggle for freedom.
A sixth conceptual axis that emerges strongly in this set of speeches by Chief Justice Ray Guevara is the vindication of the seminal and, at the same time, enduring contribution of the patrician Juan Pablo Duarte to Dominican constitutionalism, which leads the author to take every opportunity to remind us that Duarte was the only one, among the Founding Fathers of the nations of Ibero-America, who wrote a draft of the Fundamental Law, which was called upon to play a role in the construction of the new State, but which was not possible due to the exile to which our founding father was subjected. For the presiding magistrate, this draft is a political ideology that we Dominicans must keep in our minds and hearts. Along with extolling Juan Pablo Duarte’s fundamental contribution to Dominican constitutional thought, the presiding magistrate also highlights the role of the Constitution as the central axis in the defense of the sovereignty and attributes of the Dominican State.
Finally, throughout these pages, we find the work of the Constitutional Court in relation to both its relationship with Dominican society and its integration into the international legal-constitutional community. The presiding judge defends the notion that the Constitutional Court is a court that “faces the people,” which has led it to travel throughout the country holding formal hearings, conferences, and dialogues with a wide variety of social sectors. He also highlights the work that the Constitutional Court has done since its inception to gain a place in the Ibero-American and global legal community, entering into agreements with multiple constitutional courts, such as those in Spain, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador, among others, as well as participating in the governing bodies of various international organizations that bring together constitutional courts and chambers. Although this is a collective effort, there is no doubt that Chief Justice Ray Guevara has played a fundamental role in the development of this vision, thanks to his experience in different branches of government and, above all, his lifelong academic vocation.
This work and the other volumes that collect the speeches of Chief Justice Ray Guevara are educational and informative in nature, both for lawyers and law students and for the community at large. Complex and sophisticated legal concepts appear in these texts, explained in a simple and clear manner, accessible to any reader who wishes to learn about constitutional law and the work of the Constitutional Court. In these pages, we find explanations and comments on the new jurisdictional power created by the 2010 Constitution, on the role of the Constitution in the hierarchy of legal norms, and on the function of the Constitutional Court as guarantor of constitutional supremacy, defender of the constitutional order, and protector of fundamental rights. We also find explanations on the binding nature of the Constitutional Court’s decisions, on the broad and comprehensive vision of fundamental rights established by the Constitution, and on the guarantees it included to make those rights effective. There are also very clear and understandable explanations of the autonomous constitutional bodies in the context of the system of government based on the separation of powers, as well as the functioning of public powers and the system of checks and balances, the role of the Constitutional Court in the preventive control of international treaties and in the resolution of conflicts of powers, among other topics of great relevance in the theory and practice of constitutional law.
As a former student of the presiding judge of the Constitutional Court, I am delighted to continue learning from him through his speeches and his doctrinal contributions in general. I am proud to be part of that legion of students whom he has taught over the years and on whom he has left a mark or a source of inspiration and motivation. In fact, I cannot help but recall with great nostalgia those exceptional lectures that Professor Ray Guevara gave us in a distant semester in 1976, when he had just returned from France, full of new ideas, visions, and experiences, which captivated each and every one of us. Professor Ray Guevara’s course on constitutional law was one of the main motivations for my interest in constitutional law and political science. In fact, when reading the speeches collected in this book, as in the other three volumes, I could feel the tone, rhythm, and intensity of those weekly lectures given by what was then a young professor who was destined to play a leading role in the political and institutional life of the country, as he indeed has done, becoming the historic president of the Constitutional Court of the Dominican Republic.
While I congratulate Chief Justice Milton Ray Guevara for this and his other contributions to Dominican constitutional thought, I would like to urge the readers of this book to go through its pages with the idea of deciphering, beyond the occasions that gave rise to these speeches, the main lines of a legal thought that is reflected in this text. Doing so will make it possible to move from the particular to the general, while making us feel part of the construction of a constitutional culture for which Professor Milton Ray Guevara has advocated so much during his intense and fruitful tenure as president of the Constitutional Court.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.