The school

The Criminal Code (Ley 74-25, as amended by Ley 44-26) has been in force since August 2026 Art. 393·Ley 74-25 and sees the school as a space of reinforced protection: robbery committed in a school is aggravated, carrying 10 to 20 years Art. 226·Ley 74-25, and the theft of phones and electronic devices has an aggravating circumstance of its own Art. 225·Ley 74-25.

Just as important is its spirit: it declares criminal law a “last resort” and directs the State to give priority to prevention and to resolving conflicts by the least harmful means, in keeping with restorative justice Art. 2, no. 13·Ley 74-25. That backs up what the Normas de Convivencia already ask for: mediation, positive discipline, peaceful resolution (Ordenanza 05-2023 — the MINERD school-coexistence rules, Arts. 4 and 10). A school that mediates and accompanies before it punishes is not dodging the law: it is moving in the same direction as the law's guiding principle.

Conduct that runs through institutional life now has a precise criminal definition. Harassment “in the educational sphere” Art. 121·Ley 74-25 and its aggravated form when the victim is a minor Art. 122·Ley 74-25 — Ley 44-26 removed the word “bullying” from the text; the conduct itself is unchanged. Aggravated harassment within an educational or training relationship Art. 144·Ley 74-25. Discrimination that denies access to education Art. 173·Ley 74-25 — with express liability for the legal person Art. 174·Ley 74-25.

And a strong signal about staff in the broad sense: the sexual exploitation of minors is aggravated when the person responsible holds over the victim “any public or private authority, whether legal or de facto, salaried or not” Art. 181·Ley 74-25. That reaches any adult to whom the school entrusts students: coaches, drivers, support staff, volunteers. Hiring, supervising and training the whole team — not only teachers — is working exactly where the law placed the emphasis.

The biggest institutional change: legal persons can be held criminally liable for the acts or omissions of their bodies, representatives or subordinates, where there was also a failure in their duties of direction, control or supervision Art. 8·Ley 74-25. The dates need stating precisely: this regime (Arts. 8 to 11) did not come into force with the rest of the Code — it takes effect within three months from 5 August 2026, so that legal persons can bring themselves into line Art. 31·Ley 44-26. That window is an invitation to get organized, not a reprieve for doing nothing.

Who does it apply to? The State and public bodies are exempt Art. 13·Ley 74-25: public schools under MINERD (the Dominican Ministry of Education) do not answer as legal persons — their natural persons do answer, as they always have. Private schools — companies, foundations, associations — do fall under the regime, with fines of 50 to 500 public-sector minimum wages for serious offenses and 100 to 1,500 for very serious ones Arts. 39-41·Ley 74-25, and up to closure or dissolution in extreme cases.

The good news is in the same article: the compliance program. The law lists its minimum content — a code of conduct, a risk map, human-rights training, a supervisory body, action protocols, anonymous reporting channels with protection for whistleblowers, periodic review and documentary traceability — and rewards whoever genuinely implements it: mitigation for real programs, reparation and cooperation, and exemption where the program was circumvented by fraudulent manoeuvres impossible to detect Art. 8·Ley 74-25. In a small school, the governing body itself can take on the supervision. It is, almost point by point, the list that a good Comisión de Ética (the school's ethics committee) and a good school-coexistence policy already cover.

When. From the moment abuse is known or suspected: the duty falls on principals, teachers and officials, in both public and private settings, with an exemption for anyone who reports in good faith Art. 14·Ley 136-03 (Ley 136-03 — the Code for the Protection of Children and Adolescents). Failing to report ill-treatment or sexual offenses against a minor is a crime Art. 325·Ley 74-25 — and the institution itself can answer for that omission Art. 346·Ley 74-25. Reporting stops being only an individual duty: it is an organized one.

To whom. The internal route — the principal's office and the Orientación y Psicología team (guidance and psychology) — escalates to the Dirección Distrital and the Dirección Regional (the district and regional education offices) of MINERD; in cases of child abuse, referral to the Ministerio Público (the public prosecution service) or to CONANI (the national children's protection agency) happens within 24 hours at most, and any risk to life is notified to the district within 48 hours (Código de Ética — the MINERD code of ethics for schools, Orden 22/2023, Art. 42; Ordenanza 05-2023, Art. 27).

How. With a channel that any member of the community can use without fear — accessible, confidential, protecting the person who reports: exactly what the law asks of the compliance program Art. 8·Ley 74-25. The school receives, records and refers; it does not investigate crimes or negotiate silence. Every report handled well strengthens families' trust.

Online, the institution also answers as an institution: there is express liability for the legal person for the improper handling of personal data Art. 199·Ley 74-25, for the unlawful sharing of images Art. 194·Ley 74-25 and for defamation and insult Art. 212·Ley 74-25. Platforms, lists, photos and official social accounts are matters for institutional protocol: what is collected, who has access, what is published, with whose consent Art. 198·Ley 74-25.

Sharing a student's image or data in a way that stigmatizes them is punished with 2 to 5 years Art. 186·Ley 74-25; doctored images and intimate content carry heavier penalties when the victim is a minor Art. 192·Ley 74-25; and fake accounts — including those using the school's name — fall under identity theft Art. 188·Ley 74-25 and are a very serious breach of the Normas de Convivencia (Ordenanza 05-2023, Art. 23). A digital-citizenship policy — educational use of devices, privacy, living together online, shared responsibility with families — turns this whole block into learning: the ground the school knows best how to work on.

A school lives every day with the line between school discipline and criminal justice. Children under 13 are never criminally responsible Art. 223·Ley 136-03; where an act amounts to an offense, protective measures apply. Adolescents aged 13 to 17 — Art. 225 is precise: up to and including the day they turn 18 — answer before the criminal justice system for adolescents Art. 225·Ley 136-03, with an educational purpose Art. 326·Ley 136-03 and deprivation of liberty only as an exception Art. 336·Ley 136-03. The penalties in the Criminal Code are for adults.

In practice this means two tracks that add up rather than replace each other: the internal educational measure — with due process, and no corporal, financial or collective punishment Art. 48·Ley 136-03 — and referral to the Fiscalía de Niñez y Adolescencia (the child and adolescent prosecutor's office) when the act may be a crime and the student is between 13 and 17 (Ordenanza 05-2023, Art. 30). Even an adolescent who has been sanctioned keeps the right to education: the ruling may order their enrolment in a school Art. 327·Ley 136-03. The system is betting that school will be part of the solution — never the way out of it.

1. Observe. Draw up the school's own risk map — the one the law asks of the compliance program Art. 8·Ley 74-25 — with your community, not copied from another campus.
2. Document. Documentary traceability: minutes, written authorizations for outings, incident logs, training records — the evidence that the institution planned, supervised and protected Art. 8·Ley 74-25.
3. Report. An accessible, confidential reporting channel that protects the person who reports, and referral to the authorities within the required deadlines Art. 325·Ley 74-25.
4. Accompany. Active mediation teams and positive discipline: the restorative response, consistent with the principle of minimum intervention in Art. 2, no. 13 Art. 2·Ley 74-25.
5. Look after information. Student data and files under protocol, images with consent, cases discussed only with those who need to act Art. 198·Ley 74-25 Art. 186·Ley 74-25.

“A private school can already be convicted as a company.” Not yet: the regime of criminal liability for legal persons (Arts. 8 to 11) takes effect within three months from 5 August 2026 Art. 31·Ley 44-26. And once it applies, a school with a real compliance program can have its liability mitigated or lifted altogether Art. 8·Ley 74-25.

“Public schools will be convicted as institutions too.” No: the State and its public bodies are exempt from the legal-person regime Art. 13·Ley 74-25. In a public school it is the natural persons who answer for their own acts or omissions Art. 2·Ley 74-25.

“Having the protocol on file is enough.” No. The law mitigates or exempts on the basis of compliance programs that are implemented — with training, a reporting channel actually operating, periodic review and a documentary trail — not on the basis of documents in a drawer Art. 8·Ley 74-25. A protocol nobody knows about protects precisely nobody.