142 | Report on the Situation of Human Rights in the Dominican Republic
out in the preceding article; 5.- subordination of an offer of employment to a
condition based on one of the elements set out in the preceding article.
346. Likewise, the Commission takes note of the enactment of a new Criminal Code in the
Dominican Republic, to enter into force in December 2015, 325 which defines the
offense of discrimination and punishes it as follows:
Article 182. Discrimination. Any unequal or offensive treatment of natural
persons owing to their origin, age, sex, sexual preference or orientation, color,
family circumstances, health status, disability, custom, political opinion, trade
union activity, or membership or non-membership in a specific ethnic group,
nation, race, or religion, constitutes discrimination.
Paragraph. Similarly, any unequal treatment of natural persons by one, several,
or all members of a legal entity owing to any of the aforementioned
circumstances constitutes discrimination.
Article 183. Punishment for discrimination. Discrimination shall be punishable
by one day to one year of simple prison and a fine of three to six minimum
public-sector salaries, when it results from any of the following acts: (1) the
refusal to provide a good or service to the victim;(2) obstruction of the normal
exercise of any economic activity by the victim; (3) the refusal to hire, punish,
or dismiss a person; (4) subordination of the provision of a good or service to a
condition based on one of the elements set out in the preceding article; (5)
subordination of an offer of employment to a condition based on one of the
elements set out in the preceding article.
Article 184. Liability of legal entities for discrimination. Legal entities may be
declared criminally liable for discrimination under the terms established in
Articles 7 to 12 of this code, in which case they shall be sanctioned with the
penalty established in Article 42.
Article 185. Institution of criminal proceedings. Discrimination shall be
prosecuted through public action upon private complaint.
347. As concerns birth registration, the Code for the System of Protection of the
Fundamental Rights of Children and Adolescents, Law No. 136-03, establishes that
all children and adolescents are entitled to be registered in the Civil Registry
immediately after birth, 326 and addresses equality and nondiscrimination as follows
in its Principle IV:
The provisions of this Code apply equally to all children and adolescents,
without any discrimination whatsoever on the basis of race; color; sex; age;
language; thought; conscience; religion; beliefs; culture; political or other
opinion; economic position; social, ethnic, or national origin; disability; disease;
325
326
Law No.550-14, establishing the Criminal Code of the Dominican Republic and promulgated on December 19,
2014, was published by the Executive in Official Gazette No.10788.
Code for the System of Protection of the Fundamental Rights of Children and Adolescents (Law 136-03), Art. 5.
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