Closing words by Chief Justice Cecilia Sosa Gómez, President of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic of Venezuela

In his inaugural speech, the President of Venezuela repeated many times that justice is the road to peace. He also stated that, in addition to coming together, we must achieve the transformation of the administration of justice to solve the problems of our peoples. Consequently, now that we have ended the deliberations of this Summit, we should ask ourselves: Where are we? What have we achieved to respond to the needs of our times? Since we decided to organize the I Summit last year, I had the conviction that this forum should arrive at concrete conclusions, that we should agree to tangible actions that would become improvements for our countries. In this regard, I must confess my satisfaction upon seeing that the other Courts share this same concern and that we have all acted in unison to perform the processes assigned to us. To this end, each Court appointed a delegate and the Follow-up Technical Unit has watched over compliance with the agreement reached a year ago. I will not refer to this in a detailed manner because I did so at the opening session. But I would like to stress that we are not closing a meeting today and this is not an isolated encounter. We have concluded a year's work to give way to new challenges.

Furthermore, the interpenetration we have achieved vis-a-vis our objectives has made yesterday's and today's work sessions very productive. This is perhaps the greatest achievement and, at the same time, the most imperceptible of this meeting. It is a reason for satisfaction for me to affirm that we have formed a team to attend to the challenges that we face in our countries. After this experience, it will be much easier to help each other and conduct change processes in only one direction - the peace of our peoples. Likewise, the level of analysis achieved in matters corresponding to the topics selected for this Summit now permits us to address these topics from an integral viewpoint. Consequently, when a human rights case or a drug trafficking case comes to us, we will apply the teachings that have been left us by our Ibero-American colleagues and when we direct the judicial branch transformations we will not incur in the same mistakes we have heard from other presidents of courts. The challenges awaiting us on our desks will be studied from a comprehensive standpoint, from a global standpoint.

The judicial has traditionally been the most conservative institution in the State, perhaps because it is the balancing point of our societies. However, now the judges are seriously considering specific directions to join the dynamic route of globalization. That is why we have insisted so much in creating a network to permanently link us in the world of the next century. Annual meetings and international bureaucracy totally disconnected from the countries they group are not an answer to our problems. Methods of the past have changed and citizens and enterprises communicate faster than ever. Therefore, it would be absurd for us not to be linked. In other words, What justice will we administer in countries whose conflicts, contracts, and transactions know no geographical boundaries, if we cannot understand reality beyond our office's windows?

The window is waiting for us with a view to the information highway. Friends, either we join an electronic network or we turn into museum pieces, incapable of acquiring enough information to administer justice in our countries. This network will allow us to communicate daily, exchange general information and information relative to specific cases. It must supply the greatest amount of judicial information to citizens; guarantee transparency; and, make our dream of judicial civil servants training in Ibero-American reality. What better way to create a virtual classroom which we have called IUDICIS?

You saw a prototype of IUDICIS. It is for us to make it real, When we talked about the network we discussed whether it should be American or Ibero-American and concluded it should be global. IUDICIS is the name of a Supreme Court and Tribunal network without specifying which.

I wanted to talk about it because of the importance of the guests and international observers at this meeting. Thank you again for coming. Many of you had to travel across the world but I hope this summit will link us in the same way Ibero-American nations are. It is not necessary to mention the World Bank because we have a great connection with this institution. I could not close without thanking first of all the presidents and representatives of the Ibero-American Supreme Courts, the magistrates of the Venezuelan Supreme Court, the secretaries and delegates of the Follow-Up Technical Unit of the Caracas Declaration, and the managers of the Support Unit of the Modernization Project of our Court, the chief and remaining members of the Public Relations Office and Protocol, all members of the Press Office, the Security Office, the Transportation Office, and assistant lawyers, the District Attorney and all civil servants, because they supported the mock trial. And lastly the Choir of the Supreme Court.

It was an honor to have you all gathered at our venue. A warm embrace on behalf of my colleagues, the magistrates of the Venezuelan Supreme Court.

I would like to make one last reflection. As judges we are the voice of law, the balancing point of democracy, the hinge which allows the relationship between public and private interests, guarantees peace and stability. In other words, we are the guardians of society. Only together will we turn this great history utopia of universal justice into reality.

Thank you.