Executive Office of the Secretary of Legal Affairs

A. Functions

1. Provides advisory support, within its areas of competence, to the General Assembly, the Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Council, the Meeting of Ministers of Justice or of Ministers or Attorneys General of the Americas, the General Secretariat, and other organs, agencies, and entities of the Organization.

2. Represents the Secretary General in dealings before the political bodies of the OAS, on missions, at international meetings, and at other events dealing with matters in its area of competence; prepares special reports and performs other tasks as assigned by the Secretary General.

3. Ensures the implementation of the resolutions adopted by the political bodies in its areas of competence.

4. Directs and coordinates legal and judicial cooperation with the member states, international organizations, and governmental and nongovernmental institutions.

5. Coordinates the activities of the Secretariat in relation to the Inter-American Juridical Committee.

6. Contributes to the development and codification of international law in the inter-American arena, through recommendations, studies, and juridical activities.

7. Establishes and maintains cooperative relations on juridical questions in its area of competence with public and private organizations, whether national or international, that have similar interests.

8. Supervises the Judicial Facilitators Program.

9. In its area of competence, maintains a training program for attorneys from the member states, in the form of law internships.

10. Establishes a structure of posts that will ensure that the required outcomes are attained with the resources assigned.

11. Carries out activities to raise and mobilize external funds to finance and promote its programs, projects, and activities, in coordination with the Committee on Resource Mobilization.

B. Administrative Support Section

1. The Administrative Support Section is responsible for providing financial, budgetary, information technology, logistical, and human resource management services to the Secretariat for Legal Affairs as a whole, including all its departments, under the operational supervision of the Secretariat for Administration and Finance.

2. It prepares the program-budget of the SLA and its dependencies and assists the secretary for legal affairs in directing, administering, and supervising its execution, in keeping with the instructions of the Secretary General, the pertinent resolutions of the General Assembly, and the rules and regulations of the General Secretariat.