Santo Domingo.- Supreme Court president Jorge Subero yesterday threatened to resign if the Judicial Branch budget is cut by more RD$115 million, which in his view would harm the country’s system of Justice.

Asked if that reduction seeks to force him to step down, the Chief Justice said: “I don’t know, but they would obtain it through that route. Yes, of course, because I wouldn’t accept it under any circumstance, no reduction, and I’m not going to associate myself to a violation of the law; I don’t discard resigning.”

He said there’re plans to reduce RD$19.2 million from the high Court’s budget starting July 1, and warned that “that nonsense” would violate the Constitution, several laws and a presidential decree. “The information has come to our office, whose veracity we don’t doubt, that from July 1 this year the budget assigned to the Judicial Branch will be reduced RD$19.2 monthly until the end of the year.”

Violation

Subero affirmed that if the Judicial Branch budget is reduced, the authorities would be violating the articles of the Constitution that deal with the aspects of the independence and separation of the State Powers, its functional, administrative and budgetary autonomy, and the legal security.