Spanish
Santo Domingo.– The Senate of the Republic approved this Thursday in a single reading and turned into law the legislative project that creates the National Intelligence Directorate (DNI) and regulates the National Intelligence System, an initiative that now goes to the Executive Branch for its promulgation or observation.
This is the second time the National Congress has sanctioned this proposal. The first was in January 2024, when it was approved as Law 1-24, but subsequently annulled by the Constitutional Court, through the ruling TC/0767/24, as it had not been processed as an organic law.You may be interested in: Senate of the Republic plants more than 2
The piece was reintroduced in the Senate by its president, Ricardo de los Santos, with the aim of correcting the flaws pointed out by the high court. After its initial approval in the Upper House, the project was sent to the Chamber of Deputies, where it received modifications before being returned to the Senate for its final decision. During the session, senators Omar Fernández and Félix Bautista, from the Fuerza del Pueblo (FP), voted against the initiative, while the spokesperson for that bench, Eduard Espiritusanto, voted in favor. All of the senators present from the Partido Revolucionario Moderno (PRM) and their allies, a total of 22, supported the proposal. The Senate plenary session accepted the modifications introduced by the deputies without sending them to committee for study, because the project had a deadline of next January 12, at which time the legislative process would expire. In the Chamber of Deputies, the opposition blocs expressed their rejection of the law, alleging that it grants excessive discretion to the DNI and could violate fundamental rights. According to the approved legislation, the National Intelligence Directorate is established as the governing body of the National Intelligence System, directly attached to the President of the Republic, with the mission of executing intelligence and counterintelligence tasks to safeguard national and internal security, as well as prevent threats against the Constitution, democratic institutions, and the defense of the State.
