Against a backdrop of growing transnational crime and evolving criminal threats, the Dominican Republic has stood firm on its pledges to advance crime prevention, overhaul criminal justice systems, and uphold fundamental human rights at the 15th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, held in the United Arab Emirates’ capital of Abu Dhabi.
Leading the Caribbean nation’s official delegation was Noel Sued Canahuate, Vice Minister of Justice for Human Rights. Canahuate joined delegates from 118 other UN member states at the high-level gathering, where the Dominican Republic formally endorsed the outcome document of the congress – the Abu Dhabi Declaration – as well as the Pledge4Justice global initiative. Both frameworks lay out a shared global roadmap for advancing coordinated international cooperation and tangible on-the-ground action on crime prevention and criminal justice reform for the five-year period spanning 2026 to 2031.
Following the endorsement, the Dominican government outlined concrete national commitments it will pursue to adapt its justice system to modern challenges. Top on the agenda is a comprehensive review of the country’s national legal framework, designed to better address the growing spectrum of emerging crime threats. The government also vowed to strengthen cross-institutional coordination among all national justice bodies, and advance targeted legislation across multiple priority areas: expanded protection and guaranteed legal representation for crime victims and witnesses, more effective prosecution of transnational criminal organizations, robust regulatory and enforcement measures to counter cybercrime, comprehensive police service reform, and updated governance for contentious-administrative judicial jurisdiction.
To embed these commitments into long-term governance, the Dominican Republic has laid out a clear 18-month action plan to establish permanent cross-sector coordination mechanisms. These structures will bring together all branches of national government and independent constitutional bodies involved in the country’s justice system, ensuring aligned priorities and collaborative execution of reform efforts.
during the gathering, the Dominican delegation emphasized that any effective justice system must center the needs of the public, aligning its reform agenda with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Delegates also highlighted two recent domestic steps that have strengthened the country’s justice capacity: the reinstatement of the standalone Ministry of Justice, and expanded structured cooperation between different national justice institutions.
Beyond the plenary proceedings, Dominican officials held a series of productive bilateral diplomatic meetings with counterparts from a dozen countries across North America, Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The participating delegations included representatives from Canada, the Philippines, Japan, Singapore, Spain, Turkey, Armenia, Ghana, Indonesia and Thailand, as well as a meeting with Abdullah bin Sultan bin Awad Al Nuaimi, the United Arab Emirates’ Minister of Justice. These bilateral discussions laid groundwork for future partnership on cross-border crime prevention and justice reform collaboration.