Dominican judge withdraws from performance evaluation

Supreme Court of Justice judge María Garabito Ramírez has formally withdrawn from the performance evaluation process for judges, citing over 38 years of dedicated service to the Dominican justice system. In a letter addressed to President Luis Abinader, who also heads the National Magistracy Council (CNM), Garabito communicated her decision to not undergo the evaluation.

Garabito's withdrawal comes shortly after other prominent judicial figures, including the President of the Supreme Court of Justice, Luis Henry Molina, and fellow judge Nancy Salcedo, also opted out of the evaluation. Judge Manuel Ramón Herrera Carbuccia subsequently joined them in declining to participate.

In her letter, dated August 4, 2026, Garabito expressed gratitude to the CNM for appointing her to the Supreme Court in 2019. She detailed her extensive career path, which began as a public prosecutor and included roles as a trial judge, an appellate judge in San Juan de la Maguana, and president of the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Appeals in San Cristóbal, before her appointment to the Supreme Court's Second Criminal Chamber in 2019.

According to the regulation, judges who choose not to participate in the evaluation will remain in their positions until their replacements are sworn in. Garabito's decision to step down before the process officially began ensures her withdrawal has the intended legal effect.