Article 2°: The purpose of this Summit is to evaluate the compliance with the policies and actions contained in the Caracas Declaration of March, 1998, in regard to the matters of Judicial Organization, Corruption, Drug Traffic y Human Rights, defined in the I Follow-Up Technical Meeting, held in the city of Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, on October 3,1998.

Article 3°: The official languages of the Iberoamerican Summit of Presidents of Supreme Courts and Tribunals of Justice are Spanish and Portuguese.

Article 4°: The members of the Iberoamerican Summit of Presidents of Supreme Courts and Tribunals of Justice are:

1. The Participants, who will have right of voice and vote in the Plenary Sessions.
2. The Observers, who are permitted to witness the debate, with no right of voice or vote in the Plenary Sessions; and
3. The Special Guests, who are permitted to witness the debate, and eventually, with prior approval form the Organizing Committee, may have special interventions outside the debates.

Article 5°: The following are Participants:

The President of Supreme Court or Tribunal, or in his/her absence, whoever has been appointed to represent him/her in the Summit, of the following countries:

1. Republic of Argentina
2. Republic of Bolivia
3. Federative Republic of Brazil
4. Republic of Colombia
5. Republic of Costa Rica
6. Republic of Cuba
7. Republic of Chile
8. Republic of Ecuador
9. Republic of El Salvador
10. Kingdom of Spain
11. Republic of Guatemala
12. Republic of Honduras
13. United Mexican States
14. Republic of Nicaragua
15. Republic of Panama
16. Republic of Paraguay
17. Republic of Peru
18. Portuguese Republic
19. Puerto Rico Free Associate State
20. Dominican Republic
21. Oriental Republic of Uruguay
22. Republic of Venezuela

Article 6°: The following are Observers:

1. The members of the Delegations, duly accredited by their country of origin;
2. The national and international guests convoked with this purpose.

The national and international guests convoked with this purpose.

Article 8°: The following topics will be discussed in the Iberoamerican Summit of Presidents of Supreme Courts and Tribunals of Justice:

1. Judicial Organization:
   • Autonomy and budgetary independence, and instruction in Iberoamerica.
   • Judicial Management: Juridical Information Systems.
   • Judicial Discipline.
   • Citizen participation in judicial processes.

2. Corruption:
   • Ethics of the Iberoamerican Judicial Officer.
   • Presentation of the Simulated Trial.

3. Human Rights:
   • Application of norms of International Law and of the Jurisprudence of the Interamerican Court of Human Rights. Proposals.
   • Victims' Human Rights.
   • Administration of Justice and Civil Safety.

4. Drug Traffic:
   • Benchmarking of the Iberoamerican legislation.
   • Minors and drugs.
   • Drugs and the bridge countries
   • Financial Offenses: Money laundering.

Article 9°: The Follow-Up Technical Unit of the Caracas Declaration will prepare for each topic a preliminary work paper, which will be submitted to the participating members an the observing members, fifteen days before the beginning of the Summit.

Article 10°: The organization of the Iberoamerican Summit of Presidents of Supreme Courts and Tribunals of Justice, will be in the hands of an Organizing Committee, appointed by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic of Venezuela, under the responsibility of a General Coordinator.

Article 11°: The Iberoamerican Summit of Presidents of Supreme Courts and Tribunals of Justice will develop in plenary sessions.

Article 12°: The plenary sessions will be conducted by a Directing Board, and the participating members will take part in them, according to the program established by the Organizing Committee. These sessions will have the support of the General Secretary and Executive Secretary.

Article 13°: One Plenary Session will be held to discuss each topic, and another one to read and subscribe the final document of the Summit.

Article 14°: The Directing Board of each Plenary Session will be composed of one (1) President, one (1) Vice-President, and one Relator, and will be fully empowered to direct the debate, as well as to adopt the necessary measures to ensure the smooth progress of the Session.

Article 15°: The attributions of the President of each Plenary Session:

1. Preside the Plenary Session for which he/she was elected;
2. Comply with and enforce these Instructions and the decisions of the respective Directing Board;
3. Participating in the preparation of the documents produced by the Directing Board;
4. Agree on the right of word; and
5. Submit to the consideration of the participating members the documents produced by the Directing Board.

Article 16°: The attributions of the President of each Plenary Session are:

1. Substitute the President in case of absence: and
2. Participate in the preparation of the documents produced by the Directing Board.

Article 17°: The attributions of the Relator of each Plenary Session:

1. Take note of the development of the Plenary Session;
2. Write a report about the topic debated;
3. Design the conclusion project of the Plenary Session.

Article 18°: The attributions of the General Secretary are:

1. Write a summary of the communications received from the Office of the Executive Secretary related to the corresponding topic;
2. Write the minutes of the Plenary Sessions, in which he/she will summarize the debates and will include the approved conclusions.

Article 19°: The Directing Board of the last Plenary Session will be constituted by the President of the Supreme Court of Justice of the host country, who will preside it, and by two participating members, summoned to be a part of it in the capacity of Vice-President and Relator.

Article 20°: The Executive Secretary will attend each Directing Board, adopting the adequate measures for the performance of the secretarial work.

Article 21°: The Executive Secretary will have the following attributions:

1. Coordinate the activities with Directing Boards of the Plenary Sessions and provides the necessary material for its development;
2. Verify the smooth development of the administrative offices of the Summit, and dictate the necessary measures to ensure its functioning;
3. Assist the Directing Boards in the preparation of the agendas for the Plenary Sessions;
4. Provide technical assistance to the Directing Boards in the preparation of the Minutes of each Session, as well as in the preparation of the conclusions and the final document;
5. Prepare the correspondence; and
6. Request from the Relators of each Directing Board the conclusions of each Plenary Session.

Article 22°: There will be five (5) Plenary Sessions. In the first four (4) Plenary Sessions, the participating members will present the corresponding aspect of the topic assigned to them, according to what is established in the program prepared by the Organizing Committee, giving the other participating members the opportunity to give their opinion on the aspect presented, within the scheduled period. In the Fifth Plenary Session the general conclusions will be presented and the Final Declaration will be subscribed.

Article 23°: For the development of the first four (4) Plenary Sessions, the methodology established is to initiate the same with presentation by one of the participating members, about the results obtained in the execution of the Caracas Declaration of March, 1998. This presentation will contain the specific proposals of this Iberoamerican Summit of Presidents of Supreme Courts and Tribunals of Justice, and its duration will not exceed 20 minutes.

In the First, Third and Fourth Plenary Session, once the first phase is concluded, 2 or 3 aspects will be discussed related with the main topic of the Session, based on their previous presentation by a participating member, with the purpose of establishing future policies and judicial actions. These presentations will have a maximum duration of 20 minutes.

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

Article 24°: The duration of the presentations of the main topic will not exceed the time established in the preceding Article, while the participation of the other members participating in the Plenary Sessions must be established by the Directing Board of each Session; it will be done according to the order in which they have requested the right of word at the beginning of the same.

In case any participating member had not requested right of word or, having done so, wished to intervene again, he/she will be able to formulate his/her request before the President of the respective Directing Board, who will arrange it, once the initial debate is concluded, taking into consideration the time elapsed for the discussion of the topic.

Article 25°: Any doubts about the order and work system will be resolved by the Directing Board of each Plenary Session.

Article 26°: The Office of the Executive Secretary will publish the documents produced in each Plenary Session, as well as the final document.

Article 27°: The participating members may submit their observations to the work documents in writing, so that they are made evident in the respective minutes.

Article 28°: All the documents produced in the Summit will be edited in a special publication dedicated to this meeting.

Article 29°: All that is not provided for in these Instructions, will be resolved by the General Coordination of the Organizing Committee.