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OAS Inter-American Juridical Committee Adopts Report on Protection of Personal Data to be Used by Countries in the Region as Model Law

The Inter-American Juridical Committee (IAJC) of the Organization of American States (OAS) concluded its eighty-sixth regular session with the adoption of a report on "Protection of Personal Data" which proposes to member states a dozen annotated principles related to privacy and protection of personal data that can serve as a basis for formulating and adopting laws defending the right of individuals to privacy, reputation, and dignity.

The eleven members of the Committee, based in Rio de Janeiro, adopted by consensus the report “Protection of Personal Data” in response to a request made by the 44° OAS General Assembly, held in June 2014 in Asunción.

Moreover, IAJC´s members welcomed Ruth Correa and Joel Hernández García, who were elected to the body at the OAS General Assembly which met last year in Paraguay.

In addition the IAJC, which met between March 23 and 27, discussed reports on the immunity of States, electronically-stored receipts for agricultural products, migration management in bilateral relations, law applicable to international contracts, protection for stateless persons, and representative democracy.

In addition, the Committee decided to split the subject of immunities by establishing a new rapporteurship on the “immunities of international organizations,” which will operate independently of the rapporteurship on the “immunities of States.”

It was also agreed to create a privileged space related to recent developments in the field of "Simplified Stock Companies." The rapporteur David P. Stewart drew attention to a special meeting on the subject at the Juridical and Political Affairs of the OAS and to an initiative of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), which has been working on the elaboration of a legal instrument on the subject and in its preparatory works has acknowledged the Inter-American Juridical Committee’s “Proposed model act on the simplified stock corporation.”

The next regular session of the Inter-American Juridical Committee will take place at its headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, starting on Monday, August 3, 2015.

The IAJC is the advisory body on juridical matters for the Organization of American States. Its principal function is to promote the progressive development and the codification of international law; to study juridical problems related to the integration of the developing countries of the Hemisphere; and to foster the attainment of uniformity in the legislation of the member states.

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

Reference: E-119/15