The Department of International Law participated in a week of activities October 24th – 28th in Asunción-Paraguay that included the XXI General Congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law (IACL), annual meetings of the American Association of Private International Law (ASADIP) and the American Society of Comparative Law (ASCL), and a special session on investment arbitration by the Latin American Arbitration Conference. This major event, attended by over 1200 lawyers and other professionals from around the world, was organized at the local level by the Center for the Study of Law, Economy and Politics (CEDEP) and included workshops, panels and round table discussion on issues including sustainable development, impacts of climate change, access to justice, human rights, Fintech, artificial intelligence, regulation of “fake news”, contemporary forms of slavery, among others. The Department of International Law participated on three panels, one of which entailed a discussion among codifying institutions for private international law with representatives from the secretariats of the Hague Conference on Private International Law and the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT).

Since the launch of UNCITRAL LAC Days 2022 in September, the Department has been participating in virtual format in a number of the activities that are being organized by universities and academic institutions throughout the region to consider this year’s theme - An Enabling Legal Environment for Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs). This has included a session at the Faculty of Law, University of Montevideo, Uruguay on November 8th and at Instituto de Estudios Internacionales, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Perú (Institute of International Studies, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru) on November 10th. This initiative by the United Nations Commission for International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) is being carried out in partnership with ASADIP and with support of the OAS Department of International Law and the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration (SIECA). To see a list of forthcoming activities, click here.

The Department continues to participate as OAS Observer in ongoing UNIDROIT Working Group sessions and intersessional meetings concerning the legal structure of agricultural enterprises and warehouse receipts financing. Both of these initiatives are related to the work of the OAS to improve the legal environment for MSMEs, specifically to facilitate business formalization and access to credit, particularly in the agricultural sector.

The Department of International Law participants in these and other similar activities in furtherance of the OAS General Assembly mandate to continue working in cooperation with other international organizations involved in the field of private international law and to promote its development and greater dissemination.

» To visit the Department of International Law (DIL) website, click here.