Dominican Republic's New Penal Code Tightens Image Rights Penalties, Sparks Surgeons' Legal Concerns

The Dominican Republic’s recently enacted Penal Code introduces a specific offense for violating a person’s image rights. While the right to image is already protected by Article 44 of the Constitution and existing statutes such as Law 24‑97 and Law 192‑19, the new code raises the base penalty to six months‑one year of imprisonment and a fine of one to two public‑sector minimum wages. In five aggravated circumstances—including intimate or sexual content, targeting minors or vulnerable persons, and dissemination through digital platforms—the imprisonment term can increase to five‑ten years and fines to ten‑twenty minimum salaries.

Surgeons have warned that the code’s expanded definition of involuntary homicide could create legal uncertainty for medical practice. Dr. Luis Restituyo, treasurer of the Dominican College of Surgeons, said the lack of clear distinction between criminal negligence and unavoidable surgical complications may subject fatal outcomes to criminal investigations. He cautioned that this could encourage defensive medicine, deter specialists from high‑risk procedures, and affect training in critical surgical fields.