A city skyline with several colorful buildings dotting the landscape.

Improving the Dominican Republic’s Justice System .

Democracy and Governance | Violence Prevention | Safeguarding | Vulnerable Groups | Human Rights
Latin America and the Caribbean

Dominican Republic Criminal Justice System Strengthened Project

Project Dates: June 2015 - June 2021
The Dominican Republic needs a stronger criminal justice system to provide high-quality legal services and cultivate public trust.

An effective criminal justice system indiscriminately provides citizens with access to justice, promotes equality and demonstrates impartiality, maintains timely and efficient processes, combats the impunity of human rights violators, fosters citizens’ independence and responsibility, and earns the public’s trust. In the Dominican Republic, 20 years of justice reform and modernization efforts have led to some progress, but the country’s justice system still requires improvement. The USAID Dominican Republic Criminal Justice System Strengthened Project (DR CJSSP) promoted inter-institutional coordination across the country’s justice sector to create more effective criminal case management models and processes. Through community justice houses and conciliation and mediation services, the project also worked to expand access to justice and legal protection. These services reduced prosecutor and court caseloads in the criminal justice system, enabling prosecutors to dedicate greater time and resources to investigating and prosecuting more serious crimes. In addition, DR CJSSP enabled the criminal justice system to establish linkages to broader initiatives that promote citizen security as well as violence and crime prevention.

237,442

people who accessed community justice services

143,821

conciliation and processes undertaken

52,260

vulnerable people, including F/GBV victims and people with disabilities accessed justice

Project Goals


  • Facilitate successful coordination between law enforcement and justice agencies
  • Improve case management and tracking to increase the effectiveness of prosecutors and the criminal justice system
  • Enhance human resources and systems that increase the accountability and integrity of justice officials and their staff to strengthen their oversight
  • Create services for victims of gender-based violence and strengthen legal protection for vulnerable groups
  • Increase the responsiveness and accessibility of local community justice services, focusing on expanding the use of alternative dispute resolution services