Media Center

Press Advisory


HEMISPHERE’S JUSTICE MINISTERS AND ATTORNEYS GENERAL TO MEET AT OAS

  April 25, 2008

The Seventh Meeting of Ministers of Justice and Attorneys General of the Americas (REMJA VII) gets underway at the Organization of American States (OAS) headquarters in Washington on Monday, April 28, when the conference will elect its Chair and Vice Chair.

The formal opening of the event is on Tuesday, April 29, at 9.30 a.m., will be addressed by OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza and United States Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey.

On Wednesday, March 30, the Justice Ministers and Attorneys General will consider and adopt a Document on the REMJA Process (Washington Document), with the OAS Secretary General speaking at the closing session scheduled for 12.30 p.m. that same day.

The meetings of Ministers of Justice and Attorneys General of the Americas have become the premier hemispheric forum for dealing with issues related to justice and legal cooperation. The REMJA also provides support the processes of justice reform, development of mechanisms for cooperation and other arrangements for exchange of information, experience, training and technical assistance.

Among major agenda items, the heads of delegation will consider: the status of signatures and ratifications of inter-American conventions on corruption and on mutual assistance in criminal matters; the United Nations conventions against transnational organized crime and corruption; incorporation of those conventions into the domestic laws of member states; horizontal cooperation; and the strengthening of information-sharing.


The opening session will be webcast live, at the OAS website (www.oas.org)


WHAT: Seventh Meeting of Ministers of Justice and Attorneys General of the Americas

WHEN: Tuesday, April 29, 2008

TIME: 9.30 a.m. (Washington Time)

WHERE: Hall of the Americas
Organization of American States
17th Street and Constitution Ave., NW
Washington D.C. 20006

Reference: AVI-026/08