NFP
Working Groups Reports
Working Group on Strengthening Judicial Institutions and Jurisprudence
(Participants from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Colombia,
Dominica, Guyana, Suriname and USA).
The
working group on strengthening judicial institutions and jurisprudence in
the Americas proposed that work should be undertaken in the following
areas:
Training judges;
-
Training the authorities in charge of compliance with environmental laws
and policies;
-
Modernizing environmental legislation at the national level;
-
Developing new agreements at the international level concerning
environmental juridical institutions;
-
Promoting the exchange of information and experiences relating to
environmental cases among judges and judicial officers;
-
Creating mechanisms to facilitate the exchange of information;
-
Promoting national capacity to implement the commitments that each country
assumes under international agreements;
-
Establishing efficient mechanisms to monitor compliance with the
environmental laws within countries and across borders; and
-
Creating awareness of environmental issues among the population.
The
group agreed that tools to achieve the above objectives at the hemispheric
level include the following:
Organize workshops or seminars at the hemispheric, regional or national
level for judges and judicial officers;
Facilitate internet access for judges and judicial officers;
-
Publish a directory of FIDA members;
-
Create
working groups or specific fora to support the strengthening of judicial
institutions in the countries of the hemisphere;
-
Collaborate and facilitate the publication and exchange of cases and
experiences among countries and authorities;
-
Organize video conferences or internet broadcasting of meetings so more
interested people may have access to them;
-
Study
the need for environmental legislative reform in OAS member states; and
-
Promote public participation in the decision-making process related to
environment.
The
proposed activities will have as a result the strengthening of judicial
institutions and jurisprudence, as well as the strengthening of
environmental laws, through the exchange of information, laws and case
studies among the different countries of the hemisphere.
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