Chilean Senate Approves JSCA Headquarters

   
On July 17, the Chilean Senate unanimously approved the Headquarters Agreement signed between the Chilean government and the Justice Studies Center of the Americas (JSCA).

The agreement recognizes the JSCA’s status as an international organization based in Santiago de Chile and grants it the legal personality necessary to operate as such within Chilean territory. The initiative was signed on January 22, 2001 and unanimously approved by the Chamber of Deputies in June 2002. The recent Senate approval marks the completion of the second constitutional step of the agreement, which will become effective 30 days after Juan Enrique Vargas, executive director of the JSCA, receives written notification from the Chilean government with regard to the fulfillment of the necessary constitutional procedures.

The JSCA was created in November 1999 by a resolution of the General Assembly of the OAS in compliance with the mandates of the Second Summit of the Americas. In that meeting, held in April 1998 in Santiago, the chiefs of state and the governments of the Americas agreed to establish this Justice Studies Center as an institution charged with facilitating the training of human resources, the exchange of information, the support of the processes of reform and modernization of the justice systems of the region and other forms of technical cooperation in the area of justice, in conformity with the specific requirements of each nation.

(Source: JSCA August 2002 newsletter)