As part of its efforts to provide spaces for dialogue regarding the progress made and challenges faced by the countries of the region in the effective implementation of mechanisms for providing access to justice to at-risk individuals and groups, the Justice Studies Center of the Americas (JSCA) announces the second seminar in its virtual series: Access to Justice for Detained Persons in the Southern Cone. This seminar will be held Friday, July 15, 2022 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Chile time.

JSCA’s seminar series Promoting access to justice for at-risk individuals and groups is part of JSCA’s effort to focus regional discussion on access to justice and the intersectionality of risks. It is being organized as part of the project “Improving Access to Civil Justice in Latin America,” which the Center is implementing with the support of Global Affairs Canada (GAC).

The second seminar in the series will focus on the situation of at-risk detained individuals in the Southern Cone. The goal is to analyze government responses to events that violate detainees’ fundamental rights and to present best practices and innovative experiences. The event will feature the following presentations:

  • The situation of mothers with children in Chile’s prisons, Macarena Cortes, Social Reinsertion Division, Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, Chile
  • Preventing violence in prisons and its impact on access to justice, Mariana Blengio, Director of the National Institute for Human Rights and the Ombudsperson’s Office, Uruguay
  • Situations of risk within prisons for excluded individuals, Bruno Rotta Almeida, Southern Cone Research Network on Prisons (RCSICP), Working Group on the Prison System and Social Change, Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO), Brazil

Santiago Martínez, researcher, Institute for Comparative Studies in the Criminal and Social Sciences (INECIP) and Professional Secretary, General Public Defense Services of Argentina, and José Henríquez, Public Defender and Director of Chile’s Association on Criminal Thought. Gherman Welsch, JSCA’s Research Director, will moderate the event.

JSCA invites civil society organizations, representatives of justice institutions and the general public interested in contributing to building a community of knowledge on access to justice for at-risk individuals and groups to participate.

Registered participants may access the content via Zoom (Seminar in Spanish). Click here to register.

The Justice Studies Center of the Americas (JSCA) is an inter-governmental agency with technical and operational autonomy that was established by resolution of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) in fulfillment of the mandates of the Plan of Action of the Second Americas Summit (Santiago, April 1998) and the recommendations adopted during the Meetings of Ministers of Justice or Other Ministers, Prosecutors, and Attorneys General of the Americas (REMJA).

JSCA provides technical assistance to governments, judicial branches, public prosecution services, and other justice institutions; develops technical studies and generates empirical evidence; facilitates the exchange of information and best practices at the regional level; and provides specialized training to justice sector operators and public policymakers in the countries of the Americas.