On Thursday, April 11, 2019, the director of the Department of International Law (DIL) of the Secretariat for Legal Affairs (SLA) of the OAS presented the Biennial Report on Implementation of the Inter-American Program for the Development of International Law, corresponding to the 2017-2019 period to the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs (CAJP) of the Permanent Council.

During his presentation, the Director of the DIL highlighted the main objectives of the Program: i) to contribute to the development and codification of international law in the context of the OAS; ii) to promote the widest possible dissemination of the inter-American legal system; and iii) to give impetus to the dissemination of and cooperation for the development, dissemination, and teaching of international law in the Hemisphere.

The Director also explained to delegations that together, both the program and the specific resolutions adopted by the General Assembly of the OAS have served as a roadmap to guide the DIL’s activities, and it has thus undertaken an exercise to harmonize the mandates received and has sought ways of optimizing its resources, always incorporating the gender perspective in each of its thematic areas and activities.

In quantitative terms, the DIL team has worked mainly on 10 substantive issues of public and private law, such as: access to public information, personal data protection; corporations, human rights and the environment; protection of cultural property; secured transactions; electronic receipts; public defense and access to justice; simplified joint stock companies; international humanitarian law; and international contracts.

He described that in the biennium that is being reported, continuous legal advisory services were provided to the political bodies and the Secretary General; multiple questions from Member States have answered; 90 newsletters have been prepared and distributed; and 2,097 web pages have been updated, totaling 1,287,256 visits. Furthermore, the DIL undertook several activities for the dissemination of international law, such as the Course on International Law held annually in Rio de Janeiro, the workshops to obtain inputs for the preparation of the Inter-American Model Law on Access to Public Information 2.0, and participation in various panels and seminars, among others.

The presentation concluded with a call on the Member States to continue to support the Program, identifying new areas of opportunity in the development and promotion of international law and strengthening the legal framework of the inter-American system and the legal agenda of the Organization. 

» Click here to see the full text of the Report

» Photo Gallery of the Presentation

» Video of the Presentation of the Department of International Law (DDI)

For further information on this matter, please contact the Department of International Law of the Secretariat for Legal Affairs of the OAS +1 202 370 0743.