News

• Law 491-08 introduces changes in the Cassation Procedure.
• New Commercial Societies Law No. 479-08 in the Dominican Republic.

News

Law 491-08 introduces changes in the Cassation Procedure.

Law 491-08 modifies articles 5, 12 and 20 of Law no. 3726, which establishes the Cassation Procedure. This law seeks to avoid the dilation in numerous cases that are object of recourses of cassation in civil, commercial, real estate matters, among others.

From the dispositions of this Law it is pertinent to highlight the following:

• These recourses are limited for sentences that conceive condemnation superior to the two hundred minimum wages of the private sector.
• Article 5 of the new law reduces the term of sixty days to thirty for a deposit of the corresponding memorial.
• The cassation recourse will not be available without prejudice of other legal dispositions that exclude them, against the preparatory sentences nor the ones that dispose of conservatory or caution measures, it will be conjointly with the definitive sentence, but the execution of such, even though voluntary, is not opposable as media of inadmisión.
• The Cassation recourse suspends the execution of the opposed decision.
• The Supreme Court of Justice, after revising the recourse, will always send the matter to another court of the same category as the one the sentence object of the recourse proceeded from.

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New Commercial Societies Law No. 479-08 in the Dominican Republic.

Important Aspects.

The Commercial Societies and Individual Limited Liabilities Corporation Law was enacted recently on December 11, 2008 and will begin its enforcement on June 13, 2009.

Novelties presented by Law No. 479-08.

• Provides a portfolio of different types of Commercial Societies that allow each business to choose the one of convenience depending on its particular needs; at the same time maintaining General Partnership Societies, Limited Partnership Societies and Limited Partnership Societies by Shares.
• Introduction of Limited Liability Societies (“SRL” for its initials in Spanish “Sociedades de Responsabilidad Limitada”) and the Individual Entities of Limited Liability (“EIRL” for its initials in Spanish “Entidades Individuales de Responsabilidad Limitada”)
• Reduction of the number of Shareholders in Corporations to a minimum of two.
• Elimination of the Judicatum Solvi warranty for Offshore Societies.
• Legislative Regulation of actions and contracts in the previous stage of constitution of Societies.
• Possibility to celebrate non presence meetings.
• Strengthening of information rights and Principle of Partners Equality.<./li>
• Option to transform to a different type of societies without it being necessary to previously dissolve or liquidate.
• Legislative Regulation of the process of Merger, Corporate Breakup and Transformation of Societies, Increase and Decrease of Capital, Dissolution and Liquidation.

Important:

The Law of Commercial Societies disposes that the currently existing Commercial Societies are being granted a term of 180 days, which expires on June 19 of the present year 2009, for the adaptation to the new dispositions of the Law. The Chamber of Commerce and Production of the Dominican Republic published on February 13 an instructive guide with the minimum criteria and parameters required for the process of adaptation of all commercial societies.

Vehicle Transfer Law

This past December 19th, our Executive Power enacted Law 492-08. This law establishes that every person, natural or legal, that transfers the property of their vehicle, will be able to present this transfer before the Internal Taxes Administration, and will also be able to require issuance of a certification in which the transfer is noted and utilize it as legitimate proof to withdraw of any civil and penal responsibility in case of any claim for loss or damages caused by the transferred vehicle.

Such transfer can be done by the presentation of the following documents:

• Copy of the transfers act, legalized and registered.
• Copy of the vehicle’s registration document (matrícula).
• Copy of the Cédula or ID of the buyer and seller.
• Payment of RD$300.00

It is important to point that the Internal Taxes Administration will not accept the renovation of the license plate or recording any warranties over the vehicle, until the buyer has not satisfied the payment of taxes corresponding to the transfer or, what is the same, put the vehicle under his name.

Congress Resolution regarding Foreign Public Documents Legalization.

The National Congress enacted the Resolution No. 441-08 approving the agreement regarding the elimination of the Requirement of Legalization of Foreign Public Documents. This agreement will apply to the public documents that have been authorized in the territory of a Contracting State and that should be presented in the territory of the other Contracting State. This Resolution states the following:

The present agreement will apply to public documents that are authorized in the territory of the Contracting State and that should be presented in the territory of another Contracting State.

Will be considered as public documents in the present agreement:

• Documents coming from an authority or official linked to a jurisdiction of the State, including from the Public Ministry, secretary, official or judicial agent.
• Administrative documents.
• Public documents.
• Official certifications that are set upon private documents, such as registry mentions, certainty of a date and authentications of signatures.

Each Contracting State will exempt from legalization the documents to which the present agreement is applied and must be presented in its territory. The legalization, in the sense of the present agreement, will only cover the formality to which the diplomat agents or consuls of the country in the territory that the document must be effective to certify the authenticity of the signature, the quality in which the signatory of the document has acted and in its case, the identity of the stamp that the document shows.

Foreign Investment in the Dominican Republic.

In accordance with the report “Balance and Perspective of the Foreign Investment and the Plan of Competitiveness”, presented by the Center of Foreign Investment, the National Counsel of Duty Free Zones and the National Competitive Counsel, direct foreign investment intends to reach this year 2009, the US$2,400 millions.

These investments projected for 2009 are based in the line of tourism, mining, telecommunications, energy, farming and housing

In accordance with the report, it is estimated that foreign investment for this year 2009 in the line of tourism will be of US$1,411.6 millions, corresponding to the major investment in the province of La Altagracia, in the East region, with an amount of US$878.6 millions, followed by San Pedro de Macorís with US$162.8 millions, Puerto Plata withUS$76.2 millions, Samana, La Romana and Barahona.