Real Estate 2022

• Published date: 07 June 2022
• Subject Matter: Real Estate and Construction, Real Estate, Landlord & Tenant - Leases
• Law Firm: Guzman Ariza Attorneys At Law
• Author: Mr Alfredo A. Guzm'n Saladín, Fabio J. Guzm'n Ariza and Julio Brea Guzm'n

1. GENERAL

1.1 Main Sources of Law
For the first 100 years or so from becoming independent in 1844, the Dominican Republic had a legal system based on French law, specifically on the Napoleonic Codes - civil, civil procedure, commercial, criminal and criminal procedure - under a constitution based on the US model, with three branches of government: a strong presidency, a legislature and a judiciary with the power to strike down acts of the other branches found to be unconstitutional.

Since the first half of the 20th century, however, there has been a move away from the French model, with the adoption of many statutes and codes inspired by other legal systems. Examples include:

• the Land Registry Law of 1920, founded on the Torrens system of Australian origin;
• the Labour Code of the 1950s and 1992, modelled on South American codes;
• the new Code of Criminal Procedure of 2002, based on the same adversarial principles that govern US criminal litigation;
• the new arbitration statute of 2008, taken from the model arbitration code prepared by the United Nations; and
• the new bankruptcy and insolvency statute of 2015, influenced greatly by US bankruptcy law.

The Constitution of the Dominican Republic lays out the fundamental framework for the organisation and the operation of the Dominican government and its institutions, and recognises an impressive list of civil rights for all individuals, Dominicans and non-Dominicans, including an equal protection clause for non-Dominican citizens and investors. Article 25 of the Constitution expressly states that foreign nationals are entitled to the same rights and duties in the Dominican Republic as Dominican nationals, except, understandably, for the right to take part in political activities. Article 221 of the Constitution sets forth that the government will ensure equal treatment under the law for local and foreign investments.

Individuals and entities, domestic and foreign, have a quick and inexpensive remedy for the protection of their constitutionally protected rights: the writ of amparo, which is granted by all courts and is subject to an appeal to the Constitutional Court

Cases in Dominican courts are decided by judges, not by juries. Judges rule based on the texts of the Constitution and existing statutes, the precedents of the Constitutional Court (which are binding) and the precedents of other courts (which are not binding). They do not rule in equity, as in some common law countries, but the principle of good...