OAS Member States Meet to Strengthen International Cooperation in Criminal Matters and Extradition
Between March 31st
and April 2, 2009 central authorities and other government
experts on international legal cooperation with direct
responsibilities in the area of mutual legal assistance in
criminal matters and extradition in the OAS member states
met in San Salvador, El Salvador. The focus of this meeting
was to strengthen cooperation efforts and the exchange of
information in these legal matters. The Fourth Meeting of
the Working Group on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters
and Extradition of the REMJA (Meetings of Ministers of
Justice or other Ministers or Attorneys General of the
Americas) was held under the auspices of the General
Secretariat of the OAS and the Ministry of Public Security
and Justice, the Office of the Attorney General, the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Supreme Court of El
Salvador.
During the first day, with the financial backing of Spain, a training workshop for the Secure Electronic Communication System of the Hemispheric Information Exchange Network for Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters and Extradition (Criminal Matters Network) was held. The following two days consisted of plenary meetings, as outlined in the agenda.
During these plenary sessions, delegates discussed the recent progress made in the development of the Criminal Matters Network. Additionally, round table meetings were held to discuss topics related to strengthening hemispheric cooperation in the area of extradition, its developments and challenges, including the proposal related to the drafting of model legislation on the backing of warrants and other regional initiatives, the national and regional developments in the area of the protection of victims and witnesses, and the networks and other related processes in international cooperation in criminal matters:
This last round table session included presentations made by the representatives of the Ibero-American International Legal Cooperation Network (IberRed); the European Judicial Network (EJN), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Criminal Court, and the Ministry of Justice of Spain.
The recommendations adopted during this meeting will be taken into consideration at the next Meeting of Ministers of Justice (REMJA-VII) which will be held in Brazil in 2010. The next meeting of this Working Group will be held in Paraguay.
