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Members of the Inter-American Juridical Committee Close Meeting in Peru

The 76th Regular Session of the Inter-American Juridical Committee (IJC), an advisory body on international legal matters of the Organization of American States (OAS), today held its closing session in the city of Lima, Peru.

During the 76th session, held March 15 to 24, 2010, members of the Committee discussed subjects related to the promotion and strengthening of democracy; access to justice in the Americas; freedom of thought and expression; the implementation of international humanitarian law in the Member States of the OAS, and the work of the International Criminal Court, among others.

Similarly, the Committee, presided by the former Colombian Foreign Minister Guillermo Fernández de Soto, approved two reports: a document that will be sent to the Working Group of the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs of the OAS that is currently negotiating a Proposal for an Inter-American Convention against Racism and all forms of Discrimination and Intolerance; and a report on the advisory capabilities of the Committee.

In the context of the meeting, members of the IJC held a series of talks with Peruvian government representatives, among them the Vice Minister of Foreign Relations of Peru, Ambassador Néstor Francisco Popolizio Bardales; the under-Secretary for Multilateral Affairs of the Peruvian Foreign Ministry, Luzmila Zanabria; the President of the Congressional Commission on Justice and Human Rights, Víctor Rolando Sousa Huanambal; the Attorney General, Gladys Margot Echaíz Ramos; and the President of the Constitutional Court, Juan Vergara Gotelli. Furthermore, academic meetings were held with authorities and students of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and the Universidad San Martín de Porres.

The next regular session of the Inter-American Juridical Committee will be held at its headquarters in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August 2010, when the XXXVII International Law Course will also be held, an initiative organized annually jointly by the Committee and the OAS Department of International Law.

Integrated by 11 jurists from Bolivia, El Salvador, Venezuela, Jamaica, Mexico, Brazil, Nicaragua, Colombia, Canada, Peru, the United States and Dominican Republic, the objective of the IJC is to promote the progressive development and codification of international law, study the juridical problems pertaining to the integration of developing countries in the Western Hemisphere and promote the process of legislative uniformity among Member States.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-092/10