Francisco Domínguez Brito

Francisco Domínguez Brito
Attorney General of the Dominican Republic
Incumbent
Assumed office August 16, 2012
Senator for the Province of Santiago
In office August 16, 2006 – August 16, 2010
Preceded by	José Rafael Abinader
Succeeded by	Julio César Valentín
Attorney General of the Dominican Republic
In office August 16, 2004 – August 16, 2006
Preceded by	Víctor Céspedes Martínez
Succeeded by	Radhamés Jiménez Peña
District Attorney of the National District
In office October, 1997 – August 16, 2000
Preceded by	Guillermo Moreno
Succeeded by	Máximo Aristy Caraballo
Personal details
Born	Francisco Javier Tadeo Domínguez Brito (1965-10-28) October 28, 1965 Gurabo, Dominican Republic
Nationality	Dominican
Political party	Dominican Liberation Party (PLD)
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Burgos
Alma mater	Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra Panthéon-Assas University
Occupation	Lawyer
Religion	Roman Catholic
Signature
Website	http://www.franciscoenlared.com

Francisco Domínguez Brito (born Francisco Javier Tadeo Domínguez Brito; October 28, 1965) is a Dominican politician and jurist. Domínguez has served as the Attorney General for Dominican Republic since 2010, and was the Senator of the Province of Santiago from 2006 to 2010.

Early life

Domínguez was born in Gurabo, Santiago, Dominican Republic on October 28, 1965 to Pedro Domínguez Rosario and Elsa Brito. Domínguez's family is mainly composed of Canarian descent.

Education

He received an education at La Salle College in Santiago. In 1988, Domínguez received a law degree at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM). In 1991, he completed a master's degree in Social Thought at the same university, and a Master of Civil Law at Panthéon-Assas University in Paris, France.

Political party affiliation

Francisco Domínguez Brito joined the PLD in 1984 and started his work for the party. He was in charge of the "PLD Working Committee" at the former "Captain Máximo Cabral" working group.

Once he became a full member of the PLD in 1988, he took different roles in the base committees where he was working, until 1992 when he was elected as a member of the First Division Media. This was after the Political Committee approved the promotion from working group to "'Máximo Cabral Intermediate Committee".

After the 1994 election, he went to Paris for post-graduate studies at Panthéon-Assas University. He organized a study circle and became the founder of the local branch of the PLD in France. In January 1995, he directed the Election Commission in Madrid, for Europe's party leadership election. On his return to the Dominican Republic in 1995, he was elected a Fellow of the Mean and then Secretary General of the "Committee through Maximo Cabral." He was unanimously re-elected in 1997 as Secretary General. This period was also notable for being the founder of "Rosa Sosa Intermediate Committee." In 1998, he was appointed deputy secretary of the organization and was elected a member of the Central Committee, a position he holds today.

Private practice

In the private sector, he has been a legal advisor to the Chamber of Deputies of the Dominican Republic, a professor of "History of Political Ideas" in the Pontifice Universidad Catolica Madre Maestra (PUCMM), and Executive Director of Institutional and Justice Foundation (FINJUS). He has also been a consultant to the National Judicial School regarding the Program to Implement the New Criminal Procedure Code, the Project for the Reform and Modernization of the State (Parma), which operates with funding from the European Union and Research Project on Judicial Statistics implemented by the Justice Studies Center of The Americas (CEJAS) headquartered in various locations including Santiago, Chile.

In addition, he is also a Notary Public of a number of jurisdictions in Santiago, and a member of the Bar Association of Santiago and the Bar Association of the Dominican Republic.

Public service

Francisco Domínguez Brito has held important public positions in the Dominican Republic:

District Attorney of Santo Domingo (1997-2000)

On September 23, 1997, through Presidential Decree 404-97, the President of the Dominican Dr. Leonel Fernandez Reyna appointed Mr. Francisco Dominguez Brito as the National District Prosecutor of the Dominican Republic to replace Dr. Guillermo Moreno Garcia. [1]

Featured Conviction Cases Among the important convictions obtained during his tenure, some prominent profile cases were those against military personnel accused of the murder of renowned Dominican journalist Orlando Martinez Howley, which happened in 1975 during the authoritarian government of Joaquin Balaguer, and for the two teenagers accused of killing Jose Rafael Llenas Aybar in 1996.

Organizational change In the District Attorney's Office, Dominguez Brito promoted deep and far-reaching reforms, both in terms of organization and in the direction of the criminal investigation by making the institution a modern institution with agile, clear and transparent procedures. In his period of management, processes were created for receiving and managing files, and assisting and informing the public, with the goal of simplifying and automating processes. He began the takeover of the courts at random through a computerized drawing, which broke with a tradition of manual and non-transparent methodologies. He started a database and sought effective control of detainees through a systematic procedure of registration and identification through biometrics. He developed a manual with functions and procedures for all departments.

Institutional change Existing departments were revamped at the structural level. Deputy Prosecutors were placed at various police stations (stations or detachments) and the National Directorate for Drug Control (DNCD). In this way the Ministerio Público assumed control of investigations from the moment they were notified of the offense, generating an immediate and coordinated response. He also created and trained teams within the Department of Internal Affairs and Special Investigations, which were commissioned deputy prosecutors. Similarly, he created the Department of Family and Children with deputy prosecutors whose mission was to ensure the protection of children and women who were victims of domestic abuse. On July 14, 1998, the Intellectual Property Department was created to investigate and empower the courts.

Finally, under the direction of Dominguez Brito, the National District Attorney's Office gave priority to a comprehensive program of alternative dispute resolution. Efforts were made to this conciliation program between the parties in cases where the public interest and public safety had not been compromised, thus putting an end to conflict through agreement, preventing it from entering the judicial system with a number of minor cases.

Attorney General of the Dominican Republic (2004-2006, 2012-Current)

On August 16, 2004, through Presidential Decree 861-04, the President of the Republic Dr. Leonel Fernandez Reyna appointed Mr. Francisco Dominguez Brito as Attorney General of the Republic. Upon taking office, he stated that his management would be based on a commitment to honor the sacred truth, the respect for due process and to ensure the constitutionally protected rights for all Dominicans.

The institutional challenge Upon taking office as Attorney General, he developed a strategic plan that began with analyzing the challenges presented to the Public Prosecution the New Code of Criminal Procedure (adopted two years earlier), the implementation of the Statute of Public Prosecutions (approved a year earlier) and their interrelationship with other entities of the justice system and society. For the purposes of responding effectively to the new procedural system, the Public Ministry was aimed at establishing the agencies and units to ensure better treatment and scientific and technical expertise. He received an institutional budget of 654 million Dominican pesos (approximately US$18 million).

Education and training Aware that the task of adapting theory to the Public Prosecutor for a new procedural schedule, and the necessary training for prosecutors was of a monumental nature, Dominguez decided to address both issues simultaneously. The initial training of candidates for career prosecutors on one side, and the training of current fiscal on the other, through the 'Outstanding Training Program' was conducted through the new National School of Public Prosecutions (ENP) .

Administration of resources and priorities In order to provide adequate and appropriate technical and technological resources, the Attorney General needed a significant budget boost. The allocation that Francisco Dominguez got for 2005 doubled the previous year (reaching 1.100 million Dominican pesos). Due to its marked deterioration and the deplorable conditions, he was motivated to transform the penitentiary system through an accelerated renovation of the prisons, the so-called "new model prison." In the first stage, nine of the 35 prisons in the country were incorporated into the new model. To think that the Office of the country's prison system just received 16% (110 million Dominican pesos) of the total country's budget in 2006; after two years of priority, spending had increased to 34% (509 million Dominican pesos).

The modernization of criminal investigation needed to be institutionalized, and Domínguez on several occasions called for the creation of a technical judicial police. But the political conditions were unfavorable for such an initiative. It was created by presidential decree through the National Institute of Forensic Sciences.

Inter-agency cooperation and transparency The Attorney General was appointed a member of the Technical Unit of the National Commission of Ethics and Combating Corruption (CNECC). From here prompted major initiatives related to the State's regulation regime of procurement and contracting, first through Presidential decree and then through the bill that would govern the matter later. It also created a public ethics committee at each institution of the State (Decree 149-98) and established programs to encourage and promote the principles set out in the Code of Ethics of Public Servant (Law 120-01).

The new institutional arrangements in the Attorney General's Office:

- The Office of Victim Services by Resolution No. 08002/05 as of June 13, 2005;

- The Criminal Information System (SIC);

- Unit was established prosecutors anti money-laundering, by Resolution No. 0013;

-The creation of Neighborhood Prosecution or community, implementing Alternative Dispute Resolution, in order to provide quick access to justice, contributing to the discharge of the cases, contributing to social peace and alleviating the workload previously characterized the old inquisitorial system, where criminal action was essential for all cases;

-The creation of specialized centers for addressing domestic violence in the National District, the province of Santo Domingo, Santiago, La Vega and Bam, in order to strengthen the programs of assistance to victims of domestic abuse, awareness of the institutions that often detect cases of family violence, especially the police, school and health, to provide appropriate care to victims and, where appropriate, to seek the intervention of specialized institutions. In August 16, 2012, Francisco Domínguez Brito was appointed Attorney General by the President Danilo Medina.

Presidential bid (2012)

When asked about the prospects for an eventual campaign for the presidential nomination, Francisco Dominguez Brito said repeatedly that he would probably take on "the battle" and announce his candidacy at a prudent time.

On February 3, 2010, although several sources said that the polls favored him to take on new Senate after the nomination of his party by Senatorship Santiago, Dominguez Brito said that he gave this nomination to then-Speaker of the House Bachelor of Deputies Julio Cesar Valentin Jiminián. He would not be available for re-election as a senator since he embarked on a project aimed at the 2012 presidential elections:

"In this new phase I will concentrate our efforts to develop new political projects within the party, and particularly, I will devote all my energies to get the presidential nomination for the 2012 elections."

External links

Media related to Francisco Domínguez Brito at Wikimedia Commons

• Official Biography published by the Dominican Republic's Senate
• Official website of the Senator for Santiago de los Caballeros

References