Resolutions 2004

In Santiago, on December 10, 2004, the Board of Directors met in the city of Santiago, with the participation of the titular Directors, Mr. Federico Callizo, Mr. George M. Thomson, Mr. Jaime Arellano, Mr. Lloyd Ellis and Mr. Douglass Cassel, and the elected Councilor Mr. Germán Garavano, by virtue of article 13 of its Statute and 18 and 19 of its Regulations, resolves:

1. To congratulate the Executive Director and the staff of the Executive Directorate for the presentation of the Annual Activity Report for the year 2004, as well as for the presentation of projects and proposals that make up the Work Plan of the Center for 2005, sanctioning, unanimously , both documents.

2. To approve the 2004 Financial Report presented by the Executive Director, and to thank the Department of State of the United States, in the person of Officer Francis Armstrong, for the presentation of the document: "Towards a Financing Plan for the Center for the Study of Justice of the Americas ", in this session of the Board of Directors.

3. Take note of the aforementioned document, as well as the Diagnosis and Financing Proposal exhibited by the Executive Director, entrusting the latter with a five-year Strategic Work Plan for JSCA, which contemplates new and limited dimensions of action for the Center, as well as as the projection of a structure of basic costs for the agency for that same term. The Executive Secretariat should explore the means for a preliminary synthesis of this proposal to be considered at the next Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Hemisphere.

4. To express its gratitude for the letter sent by the President of the United Mexican States, Vicente Fox, regarding the role that JSCA is fulfilling in that country, accepting the offer made by that magistracy with a view to intensifying the presence of JSCA in that country . In order to respond to said correspondence, the Board of Directors shall take into account the considerations, in fact and in law, expressed by Mr. William Berenson, Head of the Department of Legal Affairs and Services of the OAS, and that by this resolution makes propitious the opportunity to thank

5. Reinforce that the actions promoted and developed by the Center must always have the following criteria as guidelines:

5.1 The contribution of JSCA to the improvement of public policies of Justice Systems in the Americas.

5.2 The promotion of better standards of administration of justice, among the actors of the judicial systems.

5.3 The reaffirmation that the work of support and follow-up of the reform processes that JSCA carries out is

independent of the ideological views and other considerations of internal policy to which the governments adhere.

6. To instruct the Executive Director to draft a statement that reiterates the aforementioned guidelines and that is disseminated through the most appropriate and timely means, among the OAS Member States, public and private institutions, and CEJA collaborators, linked to the systems of Justice.

7. Express satisfaction with the results of the Criminal Procedure Reform Monitoring Project, encouraging its dissemination in the mass media at the regional level that the Executive Director deems pertinent and approve the dissemination of the results produced in the Project: "Index of Access to Judicial Information through the Internet ", sanctioning its adequate dissemination.

8. To give approval to the request of Associate Member presented by the Argentine institution United for Justice, as well as the approval for the signing of cooperation agreements with the Procurator General of the Province of Chubut and Río Negro, in Argentina; the Investigative Police of Chile; The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico; The Supreme Court of Justice of Mendoza; the Procurator General of the Supreme Court of the Province of Buenos Aires and the Council of the Magistracy of the city of the same name.

9. Congratulate the Executive Directorate of JSCA for the initiative of having held a joint meeting with the Editorial Committee of the Judicial Systems Journal, requesting the Executive Secretariat to acknowledge the attendance of its members and to record the main topics addressed, in the following areas:

9.1 Strategies and future JSCA agenda.

9.2 Positioning and Role of the organism.

9.3 Assumption of new leaderships.

10. To approve the holding of a next meeting of the Board of Directors for the end of June 2005, for which the offer of Counselor Justice Ellis is noted and appreciated, in the sense that Jamaica serves as headquarters for these purposes. In this perspective, the Executive Secretariat is entrusted with the coordination of the logistical arrangements and preparations that are appropriate, informing the Director and this Council of this.

In Washington DC, on April 29, 2004, the Board of Directors of the Justice Studies Center of the Americas met, henceforth JSCA, on the occasion of V REMJA, and with the presence of the President Mr. Federico Callizo, the counselors Mr. George Thomson, Douglass Cassel, Lloyd Ellis and Jaime Arellano, resolves, pursuant to article 13 of the Statute and 18 and 19 of its regulations, the following:

  1. Approve the activity and financial reports presented by the Executive Director.
  2. To ratify the cooperation agreements signed with the AIDEF (Inter-American Association of Public Defenders) and the Judiciary of Belize during the last quarter (January to March 2004).
  3. Postpone the decision on the approval of the association request by the Association of Panamanian Entrepreneurs until more information and exchange with said institution.
  4. Approve the development of the Judicial Information Accessibility Index on the Internet, considering that the Council will know the results of the project before its publication by JSCA.
  5. To convene a meeting with a view to creating a strategic Advisory Group composed of key persons from different Member States, selected by the Directing Council, with the purpose of advising JSCA on the promotion of reforms to justice systems in the Americas.
  6. Congratulate the Program Director for her work in JSCA, given her departure.
  7. To hold the XI Meeting of the Board of Directors at the beginning of December, preferably on the 9th and 10th of that month, preferably in Santiago, Chile, with the offer of Board Member Lloyd Ellis to hold a future meeting of the Board in Kingston, Jamaica.

In Santiago, on January 5, 2004, the Board of Directors met at the headquarters of the Justice Studies Center of the Americas, hereinafter JSCA or the Center, and with the presence of its President Douglass Cassel and the Councilors Callizo, Nagel, Thomson, Hudson-Phillips, Arellano and Lloyd Ellis, with the presence of the Executive Director and the Secretary of the Board and pursuant to article 13 of the Statute and 18 and 19 of the Regulations, resolves the following:
  1. To congratulate and welcome the new Directors appointed in the framework of the 33rd Regular Session of the last OAS General Assembly, and to welcome with satisfaction the renewal of the mandate of the Director Cassel in that same instance.
  2. To ratify the resolutions proposed from the VIII Meeting of the Council and to reiterate to the Executive Secretary his due communication to the competent organs of the OAS.
  3. To approve the Annual Report of activities presented and to congratulate the Executive Director and his team for the sustained increase in activities that JSCA continues to carry out in the areas of study, cooperation and dissemination of instruments that improve the development of policies in justice systems. the region. In this regard, the Directors are urged to continue strengthening JSCA's relationship with the Ministries of Justice and counterparts in the Hemisphere at the bilateral level and within the framework of multilateral forums that take place, as in the case of the next REMJA.
  4. To approve the Work Plan presented by the Executive Director and to express his satisfaction with the projection of new areas of study in the field of Civil Justice and Economy as well as in the beginning of new actions through the administration of foreign funds for the execution of cooperation projects. The Council also agrees to the presentation of the projects related to the Report on the State of Justice Systems in the Americas, the Project on Judicial Statistics and Indicators, Accessibility to Judicial Information and the Justice Index in the Americas. With respect to this last presentation, Board Member Thomson presents a motion, seconded by the rest of the members of the Board of Directors, with a view to reviewing the dimensions involved in the proposed indexes as well as the methodology applicable for its partial execution, which will render an account in the next session of this Council.
  5. To approve the Financial Report presented by the Executive Director, congratulating the timely planning, effective capture and efficient budgetary execution of the Executive Directorate of JSCA. On the other hand, the Director Arellano requests that in the successive samples and accounts that are made with respect to the contributions of the Center, those items linked to the delivery of voluntary contributions from the countries, as in the case of Chile and Brazil, be separately disaggregated. and to obtain resources for the sale of products and services specific to the Center. The Council agrees to renew, at all relevant levels, the need for OAS Member States to contribute to the financing of JSCA activities.
  6. Ratify the Cooperation Agreements signed by JSCA, through the Executive Director, the Judicial Institute of Bolivia, the General Ombudsman of the Nation of the Argentine Republic and the Judicial Power of Belize. In view of the nomination of Haité Solidarité Internationale as an Associate Member of the Center, the Council entrusts the Executive Secretariat with gathering more information, in accordance with the requirements set forth in the Regulations, which complement this request, which may be reconsidered by the Directors. the means that the President considers most efficient in order to give an opportune pronouncement in this regard.
  7. To elect Dr. Federico Callizo Nicora as President of this Board, and Mr. George Thomson as Vice President, and to thank Mr. Cassel for the delivery and contribution during the period in which he performed in those positions.