The Senate of the Dominican Republic ( es, Senado de la República Dominicana) is the

upper house An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...

in the

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of the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

, and together with the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

makes up the

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. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Third Title, Chapter 1 in the First Section of the Dominican Constitution. Each

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, and the

Distrito Nacional The Distrito Nacional (; D.N.) is a subdivision of the Dominican Republic enclosing the capital Santo Domingo. It is not in any of the Provinces of the Dominican Republic, provinces, but in practice, it acts as a province on its own. Before Octobe ...

, regardless of population, is represented by one senator who serves for a four-year term, with possibility of reelection. The Senate Chamber is located in the west wing of the Congress Palace, in

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

. The Chamber of Deputies convenes in the east wing of the same building. The Senate has several advice and consent powers not granted to the Chamber of Deputies, including consenting to

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s and

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s as a precondition to their

ratification Ratification is a principal's approval of an act of its agent that lacked the authority to bind the principal legally. Ratification defines the international act in which a state indicates its consent to be bound to a treaty if the parties inten ...

and consenting to or confirming appointments the members of Chamber of Accounts,

Central Electoral Board The Central Electoral Board (Spanish: Junta Central Electoral, JCE) of the Dominican Republic is a special body of the government of the Dominican Republic responsible for ensuring a democratic and impartial electoral process, and also administe ...

and ambassadors. The Senate is widely considered both a more deliberative and more prestigious body than the Chamber of Deputies. Due to its smaller size and statewide constituencies, the Senate has historically had a more collegial and less

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atmosphere.

Membership

Qualifications

The constitution of the Dominican Republic states that to be a senator, one must be a Dominican in full exercise of civil and political rights, have attained twenty-five years old, and be a native of the territorial demarcation that choose or have resided there for at least five consecutive years. In consequence: * The senators must reside in the territorial demarcation from which they are elected during their elected terms of office; * Naturalized persons may be elected to the Senate ten years after having acquired Dominican nationality, provided they have resided in the territorial demarcation (jurisdiction) from which they seek election for a period of at least five years prior to their election.

Election and Terms

The members of the Senate in Dominican Republic are elected by the

D'Hondt method The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is a method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in party-list proportional representation systems. It belongs to the class of highest- ...

in relationship with the deputies. The terms for serving as senator are unlimited, one term corresponds to four years.

Oath

The internal rules of procedure of the Senate requires that senators take an oath or

affirmation Affirmation or affirm may refer to: Logic * Affirmation, a declaration that something is true * In logic, the union of the subject and predicate of a proposition Law * Affirmation (law), a declaration made by and allowed to those who conscienti ...

to support the Constitution. Congress has prescribed the following oath for all senators: The oath to be provided is: ''"I SWEAR TO GOD, THE HOMELAND AND MY HONOR, RESPECT CONSTITUTION AND LAWS AND COMPLY WITH DIGNITY AND THE FAITHFULLY OTHER DUTIES OF MY OFFICE",'' what will be answered as follows: ''"IF I DO SO, GOD AND THE PEOPLE WHAT OS REWARD IF I NOT, THAT I DEMAND IT. "''

Majority and minority parties

The "Majority party" is the

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

that either has a majority of seats or can form a coalition or caucus with a majority of seats; if two or more parties are tied, the vice president's affiliation determines which party is the majority party. The next-largest party is known as the minority party.

Seating

The majority party or the party with more senators traditionally sits to the presiding officer's right, and the minority party or the party with less senator traditionally sits to the presiding officer's left, regardless which party has a majority of seats.

Functions and Powers

The exclusive powers of the Senate are: # Know the allegations made by the Chamber of Deputies against and public officials. The plea leaves the person removed from office, and may not perform any public function, whether or not popularly elected for a term of ten years. The destitute person shall be subject, if any, to be charged and tried by the ordinary courts, in accordance with the law. This decision shall be taken by a vote of two-thirds of enrollment; # To approve or disapprove the appointment of ambassadors and heads of permanent missions accredited abroad to submit to the President of the Republic; # To elect the members of the Chamber of Accounts of the lists presented by the Chamber of Deputies, with the vote of two thirds of the senators present; # To elect the members of the Central Electoral Board and their deputies, with the vote of two thirds of those present; # Choose the Ombudsman, their deputies and their deputies from the triads to submit to the House of Representatives, by a vote of two-thirds of those present; # To authorize, upon request of the President of the Republic, in the absence of agreement permitted, the presence of foreign troops in military exercises in the territory of the Republic, as well as determine the time and conditions of their stay; # To approve or disapprove of sending troops abroad in peacekeeping missions authorized by international organizations, setting the conditions and duration of the mission.

Current composition (2020-2024)

Senators elected in the July 2020 elections. This list contains the changes that occurred after the election until 1 May 2021.

Composition (2016-2020)

Senators elected in the May 2016 elections.

Party strengths in the Senate

The following table shows the composition of the Senate at the ''start'' of the most recent legislative periods.

References

External links

Senate of the Dominican RepublicSenate of the Dominican Republic (Spanish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Senate Of The Dominican Republic Government of the Dominican Republic

1844 establishments in the Dominican Republic 1908 establishments in the Dominican Republic