AG/RES. 1616 (XXIX-O/99)

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE INTER-AMERICAN JURIDICAL COMMITTEE

(Resolution adopted at the first plenary session, held on June 7, 1999)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

HAVING SEEN the observations and recommendations of the Permanent Council on the Annual Report of the Inter-American Juridical Committee (CJI) (CP/CAJP-1494/99 rev. 1) and the presentation of the report given by the Chair of the CJI; and

CONSIDERING:

That Article 54.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, in accordance with Article 91.f of the Charter, on the reports of the organs and agencies of the Organization;

That Article 53 of the OAS Charter establishes the CJI as one of the organs of the Organization; and

That the CJI has presented its annual report to the Permanent Council, which has submitted its observations and recommendations thereon to the General Assembly,

RESOLVES:

1. To accept and forward to the Inter-American Juridical Committee (CJI) the observations and recommendations made by the Permanent Council of the Organization on that Committee's annual report.

2. To express its satisfaction with the work of the CJI in dealing with the priority legal issues of the Organization and, especially, to recognize the support the CJI provides to the General Assembly, the Permanent Council, and that Council’s Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs in preparing draft conventions, model legislation, and other studies it is requested to conduct.

3. To thank the CJI for its observations on the draft American declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, contained in document CJI/doc.29/98 rev. 2; for the opinion it issued on the draft protocol to amend the Charter of the OAS and Draft Resolution on the Modification of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man: The Situation of Women in the Americas, contained in document CJI/doc.30/98 rev. 2; and for document CJI/doc.70/98 rev. 2, "Model Legislation on Illicit Enrichment and Transnational Bribery."

4. To request the CJI to continue studying the different topics related to enhancing the administration of justice in the Americas, maintaining the necessary coordination and the highest possible degree of cooperation with other organs of the Organization working in this area.

5. To request the CJI to continue its studies on inter-American cooperation against terrorism, in particular with respect to the enhancement of legal and judicial cooperation, including extradition, to combat terrorism, and to cooperate with the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism (CICTE) in drafting standards in this area, bearing in mind the decisions reached by the OAS member states at the Inter-American Specialized Conference on Terrorism (Lima, Peru, April 1996); the conclusions of the Meeting of Government Experts on Cooperation to Prevent, Combat, and Eliminate Terrorism (Washington, D.C., May 1997); and the decisions reached at the Second Inter-American Specialized Conference on Terrorism (Mar del Plata, Argentina, November 1998).

6. To urge the CJI to continue its study of democracy in the inter-American system, taking into account the latest developments and studies in this area.

7. To request CJI assistance in drafting the preparatory documents for the Sixth Inter-American Specialized Conference on Private International Law (CIDIP-VI).

8. To request that the CJI continue studying the various legal topics related to integration and, particularly, that it identify those subjects it considers most important in terms of the current process of hemispheric integration; and, further, to recognize the importance of maintaining proper coordination among the CJI, the Permanent Council, the Special Committee on Trade, and the General Secretariat through its Secretariat for Legal Affairs and the Trade Unit.

9. To recommend the holding, in special cases, of sessions at the headquarters of the Organization or in member states, in keeping with Article 105 of the OAS Charter, in order to spread information on and awareness of the CJI’s work more widely and to achieve more active participation by the CJI in the legal activities of the Organization. Any regular sessions the CJI holds away from its headquarters must be financed out of its regular budget.

10. To reiterate that it is necessary to establish closer ties between the CJI and the political organs of the OAS and, in particular, with the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs of the Permanent Council.

11. To note with satisfaction and acknowledge the value of meetings between the CJI and consultants and legal advisers of the foreign ministries of member states to establish ever closer ties among them; and to congratulate the CJI on having held the third meeting of this type in Rio de Janeiro in August 1998.

12. To underscore the importance of holding the Course on International Law, organized each year by the CJI, in cooperation with the General Secretariat; to express support for the decision to build the program around a theme; and to request the CJI and the General Secretariat to publicize the Course as much as possible in all member states.

13. To support, in accordance with resources allocated in the program-budget and other resources, the Committee’s efforts to involve more professors in the Course; to request the General Secretariat to study the possibility of increasing the number of fellowship-holders attending the Course; and to adopt measures to encourage horizontal cooperation among member states to achieve these ends.

14. To point to the participation of members of the CJI at various conferences and meetings organized by international organizations.

15. To encourage the CJI to continue its cooperation activities with other international and national organizations, both governmental and nongovernmental, in order to deepen understanding of legal developments at the international level.

16. To take note of the agenda adopted by the CJI for its next regular session; to recommend eliminating from it items that are not top priorities for the Organization; and to include in it the agreements and decisions adopted by the General Assembly on matters related to the sphere of competence of the CJI.

17. To emphasize the need to give the CJI the administrative and budgetary support to enable it to address adequately the issues on the current inter-American legal agenda and make recommendations thereon.