Migration Jurisprudence from the South › Dominican Republic
Sentencia TC/0168/13 (nationality of children of foreign residents)
Constitutional Tribunal of the Dominican Republic · Dominican Republic · 2013-09-23 · National court
Citation: TC/0168/13
Type of case: Constitutional and human rights
Outcome: Decided against the migrant side
Question
Is a person born in the Dominican Republic to parents without regular status a Dominican national?
What the court decided
No. Children of foreigners “in transit”, read to include irregular migrants, are excluded, applied back to 1929; the authorities were ordered to audit civil registries.
In plain language
A woman born in the Dominican Republic to Haitian parents was refused her identity card. The Constitutional Tribunal said children of migrants without papers were never Dominican, going back to 1929. Tens of thousands of people, mostly of Haitian descent, risked losing their nationality.
Dalam bahasa sederhana
Seorang perempuan yang lahir di Republik Dominika dari orang tua Haiti ditolak kartu identitasnya. MK menyatakan anak migran tanpa dokumen tidak pernah menjadi warga Dominika, berlaku surut sampai 1929. Puluhan ribu orang, kebanyakan keturunan Haiti, terancam kehilangan kewarganegaraan.
Pertanyaan: Apakah orang yang lahir di Republik Dominika dari orang tua tanpa status tetap adalah warga negara Dominika?
What happened afterwards
- 2013-09-23: Ruling issued.
- 2014-05: Law 169-14 offers a partial route back to documents.
- 2014-08-28: Inter-American Court finds the approach in breach of the Convention (Expelled Dominicans and Haitians).
- 2014-11-04: Constitutional Tribunal declares the country’s acceptance of the Inter-American Court’s jurisdiction invalid (TC/0256/14).
Sources
Open this decision in the interactive collection (compare, filter, Indonesian view, downloads).
Cite as: Institute for Migrant Rights (2026), Migration Jurisprudence from the South, version 0.1, https://theimr.org/court-decisions/d/do-tc-168-2013/. This page summarizes a court decision for research and advocacy; it is not legal advice.