On Thursday, April 11, 2019, the
president of the Inter-American Juridical
Committee (CJI), Dr. Ruth Correa
Palacio, presented the annual report of
the activities of the CJI during 2018 to the
Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs
(CAJP) of the Permanent Council. During
her presentation, she referred to two Guidelines
recently adopted by the CJI.
The first one, entitled the "Practical Guide for the Application of Jurisdictional Immunity of International Organizations,"
proposes guidelines with respect to particular
issues that arise in the adoption of agreements
involving international organizations, such as
the objective, scope, and limits of
jurisdictional immunities; the means of dispute
resolution; observance of the domestic legal
order; appearance before national courts;
immunity from enforcement; and waiver of
jurisdictional immunity.
The second one, entitled the "Guide on
the Law Applicable to International Commercial
Contracts in the Americas,"
incorporates recent advances in the law on this
subject; it outlines the advantages of uniform
interpretation of international legal
instruments that are used in the settlement of
disputes, it recommends that domestic legal
regimes provide that a choice of law should be
evident or appear clearly from the provisions of
the contract, and it urges affirmation of and
clear adherence to the
internationally-recognized principle of party
autonomy. The Guide includes specific
recommendations directed to different
stakeholders, namely, legislators, adjudicators
and contracting parties. It represents an effort
by the CJI to promote legal harmonization in
order to stimulate economic integration, growth
and development in the hemisphere. The Guide has
already received a very positive response from
the international community of experts,
academics and specialized institutions.
Among the numerous activities carried out by the
CJI, Dr. Correa Palacio made specific reference
to the "VII Joint Meeting of the Legal
Advisers of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of
OAS Member States" that was held in
August of 2018 and at which topics of interest
to the region that could be subject to
codification and progressive development had
been identified. The event brought together
legal advisers from ten states, namely,
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador,
Haiti, Mexico, Peru, United States and Uruguay.
The president made a special appeal to Central
American and Caribbean delegates for
participation by their advisers at the next
meeting, which will take place in August of
2020. The president also reported on a meeting
that the CJI had held with representatives from
the Hague Conference on Private International
Law and at which it had been possible to
consider the working methods of both
institutions and to better coordinate efforts
for the codification and dissemination of
private international law.
The president advised that the next session of
the CJI will take place from July 31 to August
9, 2019 at its headquarters in Rio de Janeiro.
The annual report of the Committee can be consulted at the
following link.
The CJI is the advisory body to the OAS on juridical matters. Its purpose is to promote the progressive development and codification of international law and to examine the possibility of attaining harmonization in the legislation of the countries of the region. The Department of International Law of the OAS Secretariat for Legal Affairs serves as the Technical Secretariat of the CJI.
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Photo Gallery of the Presentation
For further information on this matter, please contact the Department of International Law of the OAS – Technical Secretariat of the Inter-American Juridical Committee +1 202 370 0743.
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Additional information on recent developments in the Committee's work can be seen
on this link
