13 Art. 1.- Notwithstanding the authorities vested in the Secretary of State for the Interior and Police, the Courts of the Republic shall have the authority to order the deportation of any alien who commits any of the offenses mentioned in Article 13 of Immigration Law No. 95 of April 14, 1939, as the principal punishment when the case is brought by the Director of the National Department of Investigations. The Courts of the Republic may also order deportation as an accessory penalty when the alien has committed a crime or offense that the court deems to be so serious as to warrant this punishment. Art. 2.- When deportation is ordered either as the principal or accessory penalty, the alien may be held under arrest for three months by order of the competent prosecutor. The judgment ordering deportation shall always stipulate that if deportation cannot be carried out within that three-month period because a passport or travel document visa has not been obtained, the alien may be held in prison for anywhere from six months to two years, depending on the seriousness of the case. However, if after the alien is sentenced a passport or travel document visa is provided, enabling his departure from the country, the Prosecutor shall order him released for that purpose. 63. Regulation No. 279 of May 12, 1939, 18 Section 13 on deportation, reads as follows: Immigration inspectors and officials acting in that capacity shall conduct a thorough investigation of any alien if there are reliable reports or some reason to believe that the alien is in the Republic in violation of the Immigration Law. If the investigation finds that the alien should be deported, the immigration inspector shall request an arrest warrant from the Director General of Immigration. The arrest warrant must state the facts and the specific reasons why the alien would appear to be subject to deportation. If the arrest warrant for a hearing on the charges stated in the arrest warrant*. Once the alien has had a hearing, the information regarding the alien shall be entered in form G-1, unless that information was previously taken down. If the alien admits to any charge that would qualify him for deportation, a memorandum shall be prepared for that purpose, which the inspector will sign, as will the alien, if possible. If the alien does not admit to any of the charges stated in the arrest warrant, evidence shall be sought to support the charges; the alien will be summoned again and given another opportunity to make a statement and to introduce evidence to oppose his deportation. In the case of an alien entering the territory of the Republic, he shall have custody of the evidence showing that he entered the country legally; to that end, the alien shall be entitled to make a statement concerning his entry, as demonstrated by any immigration stamp or other notation. Once the alien has had his hearing, the immigration inspector shall forward the relevant information to the Director General of Immigration for consideration and a decision by the Secretary of State for the Interior and Police. If a deportation order is issued, the alien shall be deported unless the Secretary of State for the Interior and Police decides to give the alien the opportunity to leave the country voluntarily within a specified period and the alien does so. If the Secretary of State for the Interior and Police finds that the alien does not deserve to be deported, the deportation process shall be cancelled. In deportation cases based on articles 10(1) and 13(3) of the Immigration Law, deportation may be ordered by the Secretary of State for the Interior and Police or by the Director General of Immigration, unless the Secretary of State decides otherwise in the case in question; the requirements spelled out in the preceding three paragraphs of this section need not be observed. The alien in violation of the Immigration Law and all law enforcement authorities shall be notified of this order so that it can be properly carried out. 64. Under the “Protocol of Understanding between the Dominican Republic and the Republic of Haiti on Repatriation Mechanisms”, the Dominican authorities made the following commitments to the Haitian authorities: a) not to repatriate Haitians at night, specifically between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. the next day, or on Sundays and holidays in the two countries, except between 8:00 a.m. and noon; b) avoid 18 Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.acnur.org/biblioteca/pdf/0241.pdf?view=1.