I. Spanish as Official Language
Law 5136 declares Castilian (Spanish) the official language of the Dominican Republic and makes its use mandatory before the entities of the central government and its decentralized institutions.
II. All Document Filings in Spanish
Article 2 of Law 5136 provides that any request, claim or presentation before any central government entity or its dependencies must be made — in writing or orally, depending on the applicable procedure — in Spanish; otherwise it is not valid. In practice, evidence or documents drafted in a language other than Spanish are routinely disregarded or excluded by Dominican courts unless accompanied by a proper translation.
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III. Mandatory Translation by Certified Judicial Interpreters
Law 5136 requires that documents written or issued in a language other than Spanish be translated into Spanish by a Dominican certified judicial interpreter (intérprete judicial) before they are filed with or presented to the public authorities.
For foreign corporate and personal documents, the working sequence is notarization in the country of origin, apostille (or consular legalization for non-Hague states), and certified translation into Spanish by a judicial interpreter in the DR; skipping or reordering these steps is the most frequent cause of rejected filings by courts, registries, banks and the DGII.
This publication is provided for informational purposes only and not as legal advice. Any transaction related to any of the described aspects shall require advice and be specifically consulted with the Firm in advance. © Arthur & Castillo. All Rights Reserved. Next