Dominican Republic Congress approves 32 amendments to new Penal Code

In July 2026 the Dominican Republic Chamber of Deputies voted in a first‑reading session to amend the new Penal Code (Law 74‑25). A bicameral commission had already revised 24 articles and the plenary added eight, for a total of 32 changes affecting 24 articles. The revisions modify corporate criminal liability, introduce the terms “harassment”, “aggravated harassment” and “cyber‑harassment”, strengthen penalties for domestic violence, perjury, defamation, illegal diffusion of intimate images, malversation of public funds, and other offences. Penalties were adjusted – for example, malversation now carries up to ten years’ imprisonment, perjury was reduced to five‑to‑ten years, and defamation to one‑to‑two years, with exemptions when the conduct occurs in the press or online. The bill passed with 104 votes against and 18 in favour of a dissenting motion by the Fuerza del Pueblo bloc. A second‑reading debate was scheduled for the following Monday. Several deputies called for a three‑to‑six‑month implementation delay to allow further scrutiny, and the commission’s president highlighted new provisions criminalising deep‑fake videos and other cyber‑crimes. Chamber President Alfredo Pacheco described the vote as a historic step toward modernising criminal law.