II IBEROAMERICAN SUMMIT OF PRESIDENTS OF SUPREME COURTS AND TRIBUNALS OF JUSTICE

General Guide

1. Date: March 24, 25 and 26, 1999.

2. Place: Caracas, Corte Suprema de Justicia.

3. Background:

During the VII Iberoamerican Summit of Heads of States and Governments held on November 8 and 9, 1997 at Margarita Island, the participating dignitaries subscribed the Margarita Declaration, whose III Chapter refers to the "administration of justice", and in it they pointed out that "the administration of justice, in its ethical content, must be simple, prompt, agile, close to the citizen, and equitable in its decisions.

This principle-related reference to the administration of justice by the States represented there, drove the Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice to convoke the Iberoamerican Summit of Presidents of Supreme Courts and Tribunals of Justice, held on March 5 and 6, 1998, with the objective of making executable the principles contained both in the Margarita Declaration and in the other declaration subscribed by the Iberoamerican Heads of States and Governments, regarding administration of justice, and thus establish mechanisms that will allow the strengthening of the Judicial Power in the Iberoamerican States.

This initiative was favorably received by the 22 convoked countries, and 18 representatives assembled in the Venezuelan capital, produced important conclusions delineated in the policies and actions contained in the Caracas Declaration, which were later accepted by the Courts of the countries that did not attend this transcendental event.

In the Summit, The Judicial Power of the States promoted the strengthening of their independence before the other branches of the Public Power, and insisted upon the necessity of being more efficient, and at the same time, reiterated the basic principles that govern the jurisdictional activity as essential instruments to maintain the values inherent to the Judicial Power.

One of the fundamental decisions of the Caracas Declaration is the creation of the Follow-Up Technical Unit, composed of delegates from the Supreme Courts and Tribunals of Justice of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Uruguay y Venezuela, and whose purpose is to:

On October 3, 1998, the first meeting of the Follow-up Technical Unit of the Caracas Declaration, whose general objective was to set its position in relation to the prioritary topics, as well as revise and establish the actions to be initiated by the member countries, with the purpose of calling a new meeting among Presidents of Supreme Courts and Tribunals of Justice.

4. General Objective:

Evaluate the compliance of the policies and actions contained in the Caracas Declaration, in relation with matters of Judicial Organization, Corruption, Human Rights, and Drug Traffic defined in the I Follow-Up Technical Meeting.

5. Specific Objectives:

In matters of Judicial Organization, aspects related with efficiency in the use and expense of the judicial budget aiming to impel, before the other branches of the Public Powers, a common rule that will guarantee the autonomy of the Judicial Power of the participating States. Likewise, the mechanisms for the selection of judges, and for judicial stability will be revised, emphasizing strengths and weaknesses in the instruction and training of human resources. These actions will define the norms that will govern the School of Instruction and Training for the Judicial Officer Iberoamerican.

In matters of Corruption, criteria will be revised to adopt the Code of Ethics of the Iberoamerican Judicial Officer; likewise, a Court will be created that will take cognizance of a simulated trial, to extract ideas that will permit judges to handle and apply the international instruments in this matter.

In matters of Human Rights, the effectiveness of the exchange of jurisprudence among the countries of the region will be evaluated, as well as with the Interamerican Court of Human Rights, in order to determine if the instruments are being applied by the judges of the region in their respective sentences.

In matters of Drug Traffic, the identity of the common norms will be evaluated, as well as those that could be unified to achieve the international standardization of the judicial processes and the compatibility of the penal types and sanctions in the different judicial systems of the region.

6. Agenda of the II Summit

6.1. Judicial Organization

  1. Topic: Autonomy and budgetary independence and instruction in Iberoamerica. Proposals:

    • Common ruling that will guarantee autonomy and independence in the formulation and execution of the budget for the Judicial Power of the participating states, analyzing the efficiency of use and expense of the judicial budget.
    • Norms that will govern the School of Formation and Training of the Iberoamerican Judicial Officer, once the mechanisms through which judges are selected, as well as those of respect for the Judicial Career are revised, emphasizing the strengths and weaknesses in matters of judicial formation and training.

  2. Topic: Judicial Management: Juridical Information Systems.

  3. Topic: Judicial Discipline.

  4. Topic: Citizen participation in judicial processes.

  5. Topic: Judicial Organization: Towards a reform.

6.2. Corruption

  1. Topic: Ethics of the Iberoamerican Judicial Officer. Proposals:

    • Code of Ethics of the Iberoamerican Judicial Officer, whose aim will be to establish the performance parameters of the judicial officer, as well as the sanctions that are applicable to him/her in case of transgression of the norms contained therein, based on the analysis made of the legislation of the Iberoamerican countries, in regard to the matter at hand.
    • Judicial Remuneration System, with the purpose of ensuring a standard of living that dignifies the judicial function, attending to a benchmarking study of the remuneration systems existing in each country if Iberoamerica.

  2. Presentation of the Simulated Trial:

    • Constitution of the Court.
    • Development of the Trial.
    • Deliberations.
    • Sentence.

6.3. Human Rights

  1. Topic: Application of norms of International Law and of the Jurisprudence of the Interamerican Court of Human Rights. Proposals:

    • Sentences must comply with the provisions contained in the instruments of human rights protection and in the jurisprudence of the Interamerican Court of Human Rights, for which the Courts must instruct, in a period no longer than six (6) months, the other magistrates and the instance judges and the superior court judges who will periodically send the instruments and the decisions of the Interamerican Court of Human Rights that are produced subsequently.
    • Judges must observe, in the procedures of the penal processes, what is provided for in the American Convention of Human Rights, in regard to periods and terms, to preserve the judicial guarantees in order to ensure the right to freedom and dignity of people submitted to a penal process. The Courts must instruct, in a period no longer than six (6) months, the other magistrates and the instance judges and the superior court judges, on this particular.

  2. Topic: Victims' Human Rights.

  3. Topic: Administration of Justice and Civil Safety.

6.4. Drug Traffic

  1. Topic: Benchmarking of the Iberoamerican legislation. Proposals:

    • Common norms to achieve the standardization of the judicial processes and the compatibility in the penal types and sanctions in the different judicial systems of the region.
    • Adoption of norms that will establish the exchange of information among the entities of the Judicial Power in each country, that will facilitate the identification of the facts and circumstances for the effective sanction of this type of offense.

  2. Topic: Minors and drugs.

  3. Topic: Drugs and the bridge countries.

  4. Topic: Financial Offenses: Money laundering.

7. Work Methodology

For the development of the first four (4) Plenary Sessions it is set as methodology to begin the same with a presentation by one of the participating members about the results obtained during the execution of the Caracas Declaration of March, 1998. This presentation will contain the specific proposals of this II Iberoamerican Summit of Presidents of Supreme Courts and Tribunals of Justice and its duration shall not exceed 20 minutes.

In the First, Second, Third and Fourth Plenary Sessions, once the first phase is completed, 2 or 3 aspects will be debated relating to the main Topic of the Session, based on the previous presentation , by each of the participating members with purpose of establishing future judicial policies and actions. These deliveries will have a maximum duration of 20 minutes.

In the Second Plenary Session, once the first phase is completed, the Court that will take cognizance of the Simulated Trial will be constituted with the purpose of establishing judicial policies against Corruption.

8. About the members of the delegations

The members of the delegations are the Presidents of Supreme Courts and Tribunals of the Iberoamerican countries, or who represents in the Summit, the members of the Follow-up Technical Unit of the Caracas Declaration, and the eight instance judges of each Iberoamerican country who hold periodical meetings with the latter.

9. About the international observers

The Organizing Committee of the Iberoamerican Summit of Presidents of Supreme Courts and Tribunals of Justice will accredit the other Supreme Court and Tribunal officers or other representatives of the Judicial Power of the Iberoamerican countries that were appointed by the respective Presidents of Supreme Courts and Tribunals to attend the Summit as observers, as well as the foreign guests that have been convoked by the Organizing Committee, also as observers, and must therefore receive, within the period established in the section of this document referred to accreditation, the forms for Personal Data Registration, and for the Medical Information Record.

10. Reception and transportation

The Organizing Committee will schedule all things related to the reception and internal transportation of the Iberoamerican Presidents of Supreme Courts and Tribunals, as well as that of the international observers, and will therefore need to be informed - before February 23, 1999 - about the following aspects:

11. Accreditation

The accreditation process in the II Iberoamerican Summit of Presidents of Supreme Courts and Tribunals of Justice, will be done according to the following steps:

  1. Delivery by the Organizing Committee, of the personal data and medical information registration forms, before February 12, 1999.

  2. Receipt of the personal data and medical information registration forms duly filled out, before February 23, 1999.

  3. Credentials can be picked up in the Accreditation Center that will be functioning on the Main Floor of the Supreme Court of Justice building on Monday March 22, and Tuesday March 23, 1999, from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

  4. The international delegates arriving in the country after 5:00 pm on Tuesday March 23, 1999, will receive their credentials when they check in at the hotel.

12. Simultaneous translation

All interventions will be simultaneously translated to Spanish, Portuguese and English.

13. Lodging

The Iberoamerican Presidents of Supreme Courts and Tribunals will take accommodations in the executive floors of the Hilton Caracas Hotel.

The members of the Follow-up Technical Unit of the Caracas Declaration, and the other members of each foreign delegation, as well the international observers will take accommodations in standard floors of the Hilton Caracas Hotel.

The Organizing Committee has made the necessary reservations to ensure the stay in Venezuela of the delegates and the foreign observers. However, the hotel has guaranteed these reservations until February 23, 1999, date on which the Organizing Committee must formalize its commitment, based on the confirmations received.

In any case, expenses incurred for lodging will be paid according to the rules established in the section of this Guide that refers to financing.

14. Financing

The Organizing Committee will pay for all internal transportation, lodging, food, and non-alcoholic beverage expenses generated between March 23 and 27, 1999, by the Presidents of Supreme Courts and Tribunals of Justice, both from Iberoamerica and from all the other guest countries, as well as those expenses incurred for the same concepts, by the members of the Follow-up Technical Unit of the Caracas Declaration and by the eight (8) instance judges that complete each foreign delegation.

The country which the President of Supreme Court or Tribunal of Justice, the member of the Follow-up Technical Unit of the Caracas Declaration, or the member of the respective delegation represents will assume the cost of air tickets.

The cost of air tickets, and lodging and food expenses of the international observers that have been appointed by the Supreme Courts or Tribunals to attend the Summit, as well as those of the representatives of the multilateral entities, will be assumed directly by each one of them.

15. Climate information on the city of Caracas, seat of the event

Caracas, capital of Venezuela, is located in the valley formed between the Avila Hill and the Coastal mountain range, at some 900 meters above sea level, and its average temperature is of 23° C.

Because it is located in the tropical zone, it does have remarkable climate changes. However, it is characterized by differentiating two seasons: the rainy season, from May to September, and the dry season, from October to April. In this second season-during which the Summit will be held- the average temperature rises to reach up to 28° C.

16. Information on the Hilton Caracas Hotel

Address: Avenida México, Caracas, 1010-A
P:O. Box: 6380 Caracas 1010-A
Telephone: (58 2) 503-5000

17. Organizing Committee

General Coordinator
Dr. Cecilia Sosa Gómez
President of the Supreme Court of Justice
of the Republic of Venezuela

Executive Secretary
Dr. Judith Núñez Merchán

Consultants
María Luisa Acuña
Cándido L. Pérez Contreras
Alvaro Leal
Juan Francisco Corral
Francisco Montes
Guillermo Salas
Isaías Villalba
Ligia Bolívar
Reyna Vera
Jesús Ramírez
Tomás Bernard

.............................................................
Support of the World Bank
Waleed Malik

18. Information and Confirmation Center

Executive Secretary: Dr. Judith Núñez Merchán

Telephones: (58 2) 801.9516, (58 2) 801.9582, (58 2) 801.95.20, (58 2) 801.9570 and (58 2) 801.95.75
Cellular Tel.: (58 16) 635.7907
Fax: (58 2) 563.8626
Address: Edificio Sede de la Corte Suprema de Justicia, Piso 5, Ala C, Avenida Baralt, Esquina Dos Pilitas, Caracas 1010, Venezuela.
E-mail: utecnica@csj.gov.ve   especial@csj.gov.ve
Web site: http://www.csj.gov.ve

19. General Program of the Summit

Place: Corte Suprema de Justicia, Final Av. Baralt, Esquina Dos Pilitas, Edificio Sede, P.B., Auditorium

Monday March 22 and Tuesday March 23

Wednesday March 24

Thursday March 25

Morning

Afternoon

Friday March 26

Morning

Afternoon

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