OEA/Ser.P
AG/RES. 1766 (XXX-O/01)
5 June 2001
Original: Spanish

INTER-AMERICAN PROGRAM FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

(Resolution adopted at the third plenary session, held on June 5, 2001; subject to review by the Style Committee)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
HAVING SEEN the report of the Permanent Council on the implementation of resolution AG/RES. 1705 (XXX-O/00), "Inter-American Program for the Development of International Law" (CP/doc.3448/01);

CONSIDERING:

That the General Assembly, meeting in Panama in 1996, adopted the "Declaration of Panama on the Inter-American Contribution to the Development and Codification of International Law," in which it affirmed, inter alia, its "commitment to continue promoting the progressive development and codification of inter-American international law in the framework of the Organization of American States" and urged its organs to disseminate the rich legal heritage developed in that framework;
That the General Assembly, in resolution AG/RES. 1471 (XXVII-O/97), adopted the Inter-American Program for the Development of International Law, which calls for various activities by the Organization to promote continued progress in the areas of training, dissemination, application, and strengthening of international law developed in the context of the inter-American system;

That at its most recent regular session the General Assembly reaffirmed the importance of said Program in resolution AG/RES. 1705 (XXX-O/00);

That the Permanent Council, at its meeting of August 13, 2000, referred to the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs the study of and follow-up on activities carried out by the General Secretariat in fulfillment of the Inter-American Program for the Development of International Law; and

That the international legal norms developed in the context of the Organization of American States are a valuable legal heritage that must be preserved and given broad dissemination with a view to promoting the study, discussion, negotiation, and development of new legal instruments and studies in the framework of the inter-American system;

REAFFIRMING the importance of strengthening the legal publications program and continuing to organize subregional courses on different aspects of the inter-American legal system, such as those held in Panama and Colombia and the course for the Caribbean region to be held in the second half of 2001 in Barbados; and

NOTING the conclusions and recommendations of the Workshops on International Law held in Montevideo in October 1999 and in Cordoba in December 2000, respectively, at which eminent jurists from the Hemisphere asserted the need for periodic meetings of a similar nature in order to continue to achieve their valuable results,

RESOLVES:

1. To reaffirm the importance of the Inter-American Program for the Development of International Law for the dissemination, awareness, application, and strengthening of international law developed in the inter-American framework; and to support the activities of the Permanent Council of the Organization and the General Secretariat in pursuance of the Program.

2. To instruct the General Secretariat to continue, through the Secretariat for Legal Affairs, to implement the aforesaid Program, according priority to the projects and activities relating to the teaching of inter-American international law, promotion of the inter-American legal system, and the legal publications program, and to report thereon periodically to the Permanent Council.

3. To promote, pursuant to paragraphs (a) and (c) of the Inter-American Program for the Development of International Law, the Inter-American System of Legal Information through the OAS Web page, by incorporating legal information on the work and activities of the Secretariat for Legal Affairs and consolidating electronic networks for exchanging information on different legal disciplines.

4. To request the General Secretariat, acting through the Secretariat for Legal Affairs and in compliance with paragraphs (l), (m), and (n) of the Inter-American Program for the Development of International Law, to publish the Inter-American Juridical Yearbook and a systematic, up-to-date work on the institutional framework and legal aspects of the inter-American system and, in particular, to arrange for all necessary budgetary measures to be taken for this purpose.

5. To request the General Secretariat to continue to conduct Workshops on International Law, pursuant to paragraph (i) of the Inter-American Program for the Development of International Law, and, in keeping with the conclusions and recommendations of previous Workshops, to promote the establishment of an Association of Professors of International Law to facilitate exchanges among lecturers and professors and to analyze the application of inter-American legal standards.

6. Also to request the General Secretariat, insofar as possible, to establish an information network through the legal departments or areas specializing in international law at universities or academic centers.

7. To request the General Secretariat to continue, through the Secretariat for Legal Affairs, the regional refresher courses on international law, pursuant to paragraphs (f), (g), and (j) of the Inter-American Program for the Development of International Law, and, in particular, to organize a course next year for the region made up of MERCOSUR member states.

8. To request the Permanent Council to monitor the implementation of this resolution, which shall be carried out within resources allocated in the program-budget and other resources, and to request the Council to report thereon to the General Assembly at its thirty-second regular session.