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AG/RES. 1473 (XXVII-O/97)

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE INTER-AMERICAN JURIDICAL COMMITTEE

(Resolution adopted at the seventh plenary session, held on June 5, 1997)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

HAVING SEEN the observations and recommendations of the Permanent Council on the Annual Report of the Inter-American Juridical Committee and the presentation by the Chair of the Committee, Dr. Eduardo Vio Grossi; and

CONSIDERING:

That Article 53.f of the Charter of the Organization of American States includes among the powers of the General Assembly that of considering the observations and recommendations presented by the Permanent Council with regard to the reports of the organs and entities of the Organization, in accordance with Article 90.f of the Charter;

That Article 52 of the Charter establishes the Inter-American Juridical Committee as one of the organs of the Organization; and

That the Inter-American Juridical Committee presented its annual report to the Permanent Council, which, in turn, has transmitted its observations and recommendations thereon to the General Assembly,

RESOLVES:

1. To receive and transmit to the Inter-American Juridical Committee the observations and recommendations made by the Permanent Council on the Committee's annual report.

2. To acknowledge the efforts made by the Inter-American Juridical Committee and, especially, to thank it for the support it provides to the General Assembly and to the Permanent Council and its Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs in the preparation of draft conventions and other studies that are requested of it.

3. To request the Inter-American Juridical Committee to continue studying the various legal questions related to integration and, in this regard, to recognize the importance of maintaining appropriate coordination between the Inter-American Juridical Committee, the Permanent Council, the Special Committee on Trade, and the General Secretariat through the Secretariat for Legal Affairs and the Trade Unit.

4. To take note of resolution CJI/RES. II-14/96, which approves the unanimous opinion of the Inter-American Juridical Committee given in fulfillment of resolution AG/RES. 1364 (XXVI-O/96), "Free Trade and Investment in the Hemisphere," and to acknowledge the efforts of the Inter-American Juridical Committee in carrying out its work on a timely basis.

5. To request the Inter-American Juridical Committee to continue its study of various matters relating to enhancement of the administration of justice in the Americas and to cooperate as fully as possible with other bodies of the Organization that are doing work in this area, particularly the Permanent Council's Working Group on Enhancement of the Administration of Justice in the Americas.

6. To urge the Inter-American Juridical Committee to continue its study of democracy in the inter-American system in accordance with operative paragraph 1 of its resolution CJI/RES. I-2/96.

7. To note the holding of the Seminar on Democracy in the Inter-American System in February 1997 in Washington, D.C., and to urge the Inter-American Juridical Committee to encourage this type of activity and promote participation by various specialists who are nationals of OAS member states.

8. To recommend to the Inter-American Juridical Committee that it proceed with its studies on inter-American cooperation against terrorism, taking into account the decisions reached by the member states of the Organization at the Inter-American Specialized Conference on Terrorism, held in Lima, Peru, in April 1996, and the results of the Meeting of Government Experts on Cooperation to Prevent, Combat, and Eliminate Terrorism, held in May 1997 in Washington, D.C.

9. To note the importance of holding the February-March 1997 session of the Inter-American Juridical Committee at the headquarters of the Organization and, in this connection, to recommend that future sessions be held either at OAS headquarters or in other member states, in keeping with Article 104 of the OAS Charter, in order to increase awareness of the Committee's work. Any regular sessions that the Inter-American Juridical Committee decides to hold away from its headquarters must be financed out of its regular budget.

10. To reiterate that it is necessary to intensify the relationship between the Inter-American Juridical Committee and the political bodies of the Organization, especially the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs of the Permanent Council.

11. To note and recognize the validity of holding meetings of the Inter-American Juridical Committee with legal consultants and advisers from the foreign ministries of the member states and to support the Inter-American Juridical Committee in holding the third meeting of this kind on August 7 and 8, 1997, in Rio de Janeiro, the purpose of which is to further strengthen ties between the Committee and the legal consultants.

12. To underscore the importance of holding the Course on International Law, which is organized annually by the Inter-American Juridical Committee in cooperation with the General Secretariat; to express its support for focusing the course program on a central theme; to urge the General Secretariat to maintain equitable geographic participation among fellows from the member states participating in the Course so as to ensure a balance between the civil-law and common-law systems; and to request support from the member states in increasing the number of fellows and in attracting more professors to the Course.

13. To encourage the Inter-American Juridical Committee to continue to cooperate with other national and international governmental and nongovernmental organizations in order to share information about legal development at the international level.

14. To take note of the agenda adopted by the Inter-American Juridical Committee for its next regular session.

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