Basic information			Substance of the ruling			Accessibility of the case and further relevant links
Date	Name of the case (or case number)	The body delivering the decision	Keywords, topic	Executive part	Brief summary	Full text	Page at the website of the issuing court	Page in other databases	Unofficial materials, press communications
8 September 2021	No. TC/0278/21 (reg no. TC-01-2019-0006)	Constitutional Court of the Dominican Republic	Healthcare management	Claim rejected	Six people challenged the constitutionality of a national law that prohibited the use of hookah (waterpipe) indoors and in public transportation vehicles, alleging that it violated basic freedoms such as the principle of equality of people who use hookah, in contrast to people who smoke cigarettes; and the freedom to conduct business of bar (and other similar businesses) owners. The Plaintiffs argued that, although laws that govern cigarettes had a similar prohibition, they also allowed private closed spaces (such as bars) to establish a special area for smokers. The Court found that the law was constitutional, rejecting the claim of the Plaintiffs. For the Court, the measure was reasonable to protect the health of people that could inhale the smoke of hookah indoors. One of the main arguments of the Court to render the law constitutional was to avoid the spread of COVID-19 indoors, because the virus spreads through water particles that come from the mouth and nose. According to the Court, smoking hookah typically implies sharing nozzles and pipes (mouth-to-mouth) and other devices (hand-to-hand) that contribute to the spread of these water particles. This feature made hookah different from cigarettes. Hence, pursuant to the Court, having the same regulations for hookah and cigarettes would completely disregard the efforts of authorities of containing the virus. Consequently, the Court upheld this difference in treatment, rendering the law constitutional.			https://www.covid19litigation.org/case-index/dominican-republic-constitutional-court-no-tc027821-reg-no-tc-01-2019-0006-2021-09-08
29 June 2021	No. TC-0242-21	Constitutional Court of the Dominican Republic	Procedural law	Claim inadmissible	Appeal for constitutional review of the amparo judgment against Criminal Resolution No. 530-2020- ESOT-000156, issued by the Judicial Office of Permanent Attention Services of the Santo Domingo Judicial District in relation to the transfer of a detainee positive for COVID-19. The Claimant requested by means of an amparo action the change of the modality of compliance with his sentence to that of house arrest, based on the supposed state of vulnerability in which he is due to his health condition and age, during the state of emergency arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. He claimed the violation of his rights to health, to life, to integrity and human dignity. The Court revoked the challenged decision, but it declared the inadmissibility in accordance with the precedents of the Constitutional Court.	https://www.tribunalconstitucional.gob.do/consultas/secretar%C3%ADa/sentencias/tc024221/		https://www.covid19litigation.org/case-index/dominican-republic-constitutional-court-no-tc-0242-21-2021-06-29
29 June 2021	TC/0179/21. Exp. TC-07-2020-0041	Constitutional Court	Right to access to justice, to a fair trial	Claim rejected	The Judicial Power Council issued a resolution ordering the suspension of all administrative and jurisdictional work carried out by the Judiciary. It ordered the suspension of procedural, registrative, and administrative deadlines for all agencies. The First Chamber of the Superior Administrative Court ordered the Judicial Power Council to immediately lift the suspension of work. The Constitutional Court found that the defendant did not raise sufficient arguments against the judgment issued and considered this both in its motivations and in its mechanism. It stated that the judgment was executed in accordance with the health protocols of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health of the Dominican Republic, formulated with the Covid-19 pandemic in mind.			https://www.covid19litigation.org/case-index/dominican-republic-constitutional-court-tc017921-exp-tc-07-2020-0041-2021-06-29
29 December 2020	TC/0358/20 Exp. TC-01-2020-0014	Constitutional Court of the Dominican Republic	Political activity / Representation, political rights	Claim partially upheld	Under a special procedure of judicial review, the Court has analyzed the lawsuit on Resolution No. 42-2020, which provide for the postponement of the ordinary general presidential and senatorial and house representative elections of the Dominican Republic due to a force majeure health emergency caused by the pandemic. According to the Claimant, the Resolution violated provisions mainly related to the supremacy of the Constitution and electoral powers. The Court has verified the loss of the procedural right. The elections took place during the judicial process. On the other hand, the Constitution has been considered force majeure since it sought to protect society from the massive contagion by COVID-19. The Court has declared the direct action of unconstitutionality procedurally admissible but has rejected the claims regarding the cause of force majeure due to sanitary emergency of the ordinary general presidential, senatorial and house representative elections of the Dominican Republic.	https://www.tribunalconstitucional.gob.do/consultas/secretar%C3%ADa/sentencias/tc035820/		https://www.covid19litigation.org/case-index/dominican-republic-constitutional-court-tc035820-exp-tc-01-2020-0014-2020-12-29