The Dominican Republic has a civil law legal system. Countries with civil law systems have comprehensive, continuously updated written legal codes designed to address an entire area of activity, such as criminal law, civil procedure, and commerce.
Laws in the Dominican Republic are available primarily in Spanish (the national language of the country), with some occasional unofficial translations in English or French. You can download a Google Translate browser extension to assist you with navigating websites that are not in English or obtaining the gist of a document in a foreign language, but you should not rely on machine-generated translations to make legal arguments. Machine-generated translations are full of errors and do not take into account context or recognize legal terms of art.
Steps for Finding Legal Materials from the Dominican Republic
Research Guides
Laws from the Dominican Republic are not available on Westlaw or Lexis. Instead, retrieve laws, regulations, and judicial decisions via government websites or subject collections.
Subject collections are databases/websites that contain laws from around the world pertaining to a particular subject (e.g., NATLEX provides access to national labor, social security, and related human rights laws). Subject collections usually have English interfaces available for navigation along with useful search and filtering functions.
Government Websites
Subject Collections
Additional Databases
These databases are maintained by NGOs, law firms, or other entities and are free to use.