The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic

THE ITALIAN LEGACY IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

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Ray Guevara also comments on a conference presentation given in the Dominican Republic by the Italian

professor Silvio Gambieri, who presented his modern constitutional theories within a contemporary context.

With regard to the present, Ray Guevara observes how the most modern doctrines on constitutionalism also

originated in Italy, citing the works of Piero Calamanderi in which he incorporates the post-constitutional

doctrine on concentrated control and diffuse control through constitutional courts, subjects that are germane

to the Dominican context.

He cites the new neo-constitutional school, also Italian, with its most prominent mentors: Susanna Pozzo-

lo, Paolo Biscaretti di Ruffia, and Gustavo Zagrebelsky, so that even today Italy continues to be a benchmark

in constitutional matters, both in theory and in the provisions dictated by the Constitutional Court of that

country.

Similarly, he cites the imprint of Italian doctrines and jurisprudence that have influenced international

courts of human rights and those of the European Union, among others.

At the end of this masterful lecture, Ray Guevara reminded us of the need for the Constitutional Courts

not only to mechanically apply the law in their decisions, but to provide guidance, through their jurispru-

dence, so that constitutional principles permeate the entire legal system without ignoring the preponderant

role of the legislator.

Head table at the

conference of the

Chief Justice of

the Constitutional

Court, Dr. Milton Ray

Guevara: on the right,

Dr. Julio Castaños,

Rector of UNIBE; Dr.

Dolores Sagrario Feliz,

Director of the School

of Law of UNIBE;

on the left, H.E. the

Ambassador of Italy,

Andrea Canepari; and

Dr. José Pérez Gómez,

Dean of the Faculty of

Sciences of UNIBE.

Iberoamericana (UNIBE)