XXX Meeting of Board Director

The Board of Directors of the Justice Studies Center of the Americas met on December 4, 2015 in Viña del Mar, Chile. The following members attended: Santiago Pereira (Vice President and Acting President), Douglass Cassel (President, via video conference), Ernesto Pazmiño, Pedro Dallari, Manuel Montecino, and George Thomson. By virtue of Article 13 of its Statutes and Articles 18 and 19 of its Regulations, the Board hereby resolves:

  1. To honor our esteemed former Board President, Justice Marc Rosenberg (1950-2015) of Canada, who passed away last August.
  2. To approve the Annual Report and Financial Report for 2015, which were presented by the Executive Director of JSCA, Jaime Arellano, and to congratulate him and his team on their excellent work.
  3. To approve the JSCA Plan of Action, Annual Plan, and budget presented by Executive Director Jaime Arellano for the year 2016.
  4. To continue to increase the visibility of JSCA’s work, which the Board found to be very successful during 2015.
  5. To extend our special thanks to Ecuador and Chile for the voluntary contributions that they have made to the Center. To recognize the special commitment of Canada, which has been renewed with the financing of the project “Promoting Access to Civil Justice in Latin America” (2015-2021) through Global Affairs Canada. Also, to recognize the Chile-Mexico Fund for its innovative binational funding of projects executed by JSCA in Mexico and through a triangular effort in Central America.
  6. To thank the Secretary General of the Organization of American States for the support given to and trust placed in JSCA for its participation in MACCIH.
  7. To ask the Executive Director to present a new Strategic Plan for 2016-2020 to the Board of Directors once the negotiations with Global Affairs Canada (formerly DFATD) have concluded regarding the project “Promoting Access to Civil Justice in Latin America” (2015-2021). Said proposal should consider the exchanges that took place among the Board members during this session and session XXIX, which was held in 2014.
  8. To ratify the agreements signed by the Executive Director which are outlined in the Annual Report.
  9. To approve the pre-selection process for auditors conducted by the Executive Directorship. The Board has selected Crowe Howard Auditores Consultores Ldta. to conduct an international external audit of JSCA during 2016, 2017, and 2018 for the 2015, 2016, and 2017 fiscal years for the price and under the conditions listed in the respective document.
  10. To task the Executive Director with consulting with the Secretary General of the Organization of American States regarding the possibility that JSCA would engage in technical cooperation activities for Cuba in order to promote the development of its justice system.
  • To agree to hold two sessions of the Board of Directors each year. The session that has been added to the year-end session will be held during a JSCA conference if possible or virtually via telephone or video conference.
  • The Board recommends to the Organization of American States that in future elections of new members to the Board, it will be of utmost importance to ensure equitable representation by gender. The Executive Director is authorized to prepare a letter to that effect.