At its most recent regular session (October 2016),
the Inter-American Juridical Committee (CJI) adopted a resolution approving 10 principles and guidelines on public defense in the Americas. In that resolution, the CJI takes into account that the right to defense is a right recognized by all the universal and regional instruments on human rights and that legal assistance is a guarantee for the exercise of this right and must be provided by the State.
At that regular session, the
CJI received the visit of representatives of the
Inter-American Association of Public Defenders
(AIDEF), with whom it engaged in productive
discussion. In recent years, the AIDEF has been
executing a set of cooperation projects with the
Department of International Law of the OAS
(which is the Technical Secretariat of the CJI)
to promote training for public defenders on
different aspects that help increase access to
justice.
The principles adopted by the
CJI recognize, among other things, that access
to justice is a means of reestablishing the
exercise of fundamental human rights that are
being ignored or violated, and that that access
is not limited to ensuring admission to a court
but applies to all stages of the process. The
CJI also indicates that the work of official
public defenders is an essential aspect of
strengthening access to justice and
consolidating democracy, and that legal
assistance provided free of charge by the State
is fundamental in promoting and protecting the
right to access to justice by all persons, in
particular those in vulnerable situations.
The CJI further indicates
that the States have an obligation to eliminate
obstacles that impair or restrict access to
public defense, and emphasizes the need for the
functional, financial, and/or budgetary
independence of public defender offices,
notwithstanding the diverse legal systems of
every country.
The CJI transmitted this
resolution to the Permanent Council of the OAS,
with the recommendation to consider submitting
it to the OAS General Assembly, for possible
adoption of those principles by the highest
organ of the Organization..
»
See the text of the resolution “Principles and Guidelines on Public Defense in the Americas,” CJI/RES.226 (LXXXIX-O/16), of October 13, 2016.
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.
»
For further information about the Committee, click here
