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OAS supported American Electoral Jurisprudence Group meeting in Panama

The fifth meeting of the American Electoral Jurisprudence Group was inaugurated today at Panama’s Electoral Tribunal headquarters with the support of the Organization of American States (OAS) that, through its Department of Electoral Cooperation and Observation of the Secretariat for Political Affairs, acts as Technical Secretariat of this group that includes ten Latin American electoral organisms.

During the opening session, the President of Panama’s Tribunal, Erasmo Pinilla, highlighted his satisfaction with the celebration of this meeting in his country. He emphasized that the activity takes place after Panama’s recent electoral process, which will contribute to the initiatives that are being developed by the group.

The Director of the OAS Department of Electoral Cooperation and Observation, Gerardo de Icaza, thanked Panama’s Electoral Tribunal for its hospitality and highlighted the inclusion of El Salvador’s Electoral Supreme Tribunal in this regional initiative. With El Salvador, the Working Group counts with ten members, three more than in its origin. In addition, he went over the achievements of this group since its creation and said that it allows for ¨the possibility of engaging in a discussion about the interpretation and application of the legal electoral regime of each country.¨

The publication compiled by the National Election Jury of Peru ¨Latin American Electoral Jurisprudence Yearbook¨ was presented in the meeting. It is the sixth publication of the group. This edition gathers relevant sentences passed by the legal electoral organs of this institution regarding the internal democracy of political parties.

On its behalf, the Judicial Power Electoral Tribunal of Mexico presented an update of the Electoral Jurisdiction Portal, a website that brings together more than 300 relevant electoral sentences that have been shared by several countries during the last four years.

This group, which started in Washington DC in 2010, seeks to disseminate more the work of the jurisdictional organs in electoral matters, as well as the exchange of experiences between organizations. Amongst the participants in the meeting were the representatives of the National Electoral Chamber of Argentina, the Electoral Superior Tribunal of Brazil, the Electoral Tribunal of Chile, the Electoral Supreme Tribunal of Costa Rica, the Electoral tribunal of Ecuador, The Electoral Supreme tribunal of El Salvador, the Judicial Power Electoral Tribunal of Mexico, the Electoral Superior Tribunal of Dominican Republic and the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights. Additionally, the meeting counted with the presence of the Permanent Representative of Panama to the OAS, Jorge Miranda.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-488/14