DR2028 analytical summary. This is a research brief prepared by the DR2028 movement summarizing a real Dominican statute. It is not an official government publication. For the authoritative text, consult the Gaceta Oficial No. 10691.
Law No. 247-12 — Organic Law of Public Administration
Enacted on August 9, 2012 (Gaceta Oficial No. 10691), Law 247-12 concretizes the guiding principles and basic rules for the organization and functioning of public administration, and the norms governing the exercise of the administrative function by the organs and entities of the State. Its premise: the 2010 Constitution proclaims the Dominican State a social and democratic state of law, which demands an administration that is transparent, participatory, close to citizens, and always at their service.
Entes vs. órganos
The law's foundational distinction (Article 6): the administration is made of entes — organizational structures created by the legislator, endowed with legal personality — which act through órganos — administrative bodies of officials and employees that have no institutional legal personality of their own.
Who governs the administration
Under Articles 13–15, the Central Public Administration is the set of organs whose competencies extend across the national territory, directed by the President of the Republic, whose acts are imputed to the State as a legal person. The governing organs of the State — the Presidency, the Vice Presidency, the Council of Ministers, and the ministries created by law — conduct the strategic direction of the State: designing, approving, and evaluating public policy, and controlling the activity of lower organs and attached autonomous entities.
The administrative function
The law defines the administrative function broadly: every mission, competence, or activity of general interest granted under the principle of juridicity — to regulate, design, approve, execute, oversee, evaluate, and control public policy, or to supply public services. Its mandated standard: efficacy, objectivity, equality, transparency, publicity, coordination, and efficiency, in full submission to the legal order, aimed at the general interest and the full human development of every person.
DR2028 relevance
This law is the direct statutory basis for DR2028's Government Restructuring Act (reducing ministries from 21 to 7): any reorganization of ministries, entes, and órganos must be engineered inside Law 247-12's principles of efficiency, coordination, and juridicity — which is exactly how our decree is drafted. It is also the yardstick for our public-salary-cap and transparency enforcement proposals.