The National Assembly proclaimed yesterday, January 26, 2010, the new Constitution of the Dominican Republic, consisting of 277 articles and 19 transitional provisions, during a ceremony that started at 9:30 a.m. and ended past 4:00 p.m.

Some interesting features of the new Dominican Constitution are the inclusion of instruments of direct democracy, such as referendum and plebiscite; the establishment of the sanctity of life from the time of conception; the inclusion of multiple guarantees for the exercise of fundamental rights such as the “amparo” and habeas data; a ban on consecutive presidential reelection; the creation of the Constitutional Court, the Council of the Judiciary and the Supreme Electoral Court; the increase in the number of representatives from 178 to 190; and the change in the names of government officials from “secretarios de estado” to “ministros” and from “síndicos” to “alcaldes.”