1. BRASĺLIA Pierre-Gilles Bélanger, coordinator
JOINING THE AMERICAS AGAINST CRIME
UNINDO AS AMÉRICAS CONTRA O CRIME
UNIENDO LAS AMÉRICAS CONTRA EL CRIMEN
UNIR LES AMÉRIQUES CONTRE LE CRIME
BRASĺLIA
Pierre-Gilles Bélanger, coordinator
OAS REMJA Working Group on Mutual
Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters and Extradition
Second Meeting of Central Authorities and other experts on
Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters and Extradition
1 – 3 SEPTEMBER 2005

2. AMERICAjus 1. WHY AMERICAjus? 2. WHAT IS AMERICAjus? NEXT STEPS
- STRUCTURE
- OBJECTIVES
* General
* Specific
NEXT STEPS

3. AMERICAjus WHY AMERICAjus ? - REMJA 3 – ENHANCE MLA
- MANDATE RECEIVED BY THE CENTRAL AUTHORITIES
- Sept – OAS mission and experts requested a more formal body. A permanent presence at the Secretariat (OAS & Experts had achieved something significant, growing from a basic WG to a body that is now creating expectations from the member States). They have asked the coordinator to propose a structure.
- March 2005 – It was agreed to create Americajus. It was needed and wanted! (and to present the idea to the Heads of State and REMJA).
- MANDATE OF THE OAS LEGAL SECRETARIAT

4. AMERICAjus 2. WHAT IS AMERICAjus:
It is the creation of a Permanent Secretariat of a hemispheric body (by the name of AMERICAjus) whose fundamental mission would be to promote and strengthen international cooperation in criminal matters between the Members States through legal advisory services and the adoption of technical and operational measures aimed at achieving optimal coordination, while guaranteeing the respect of fundamental rights and freedoms and sovereignty in each member States.

5. AMERICAjus
Creates a Permanent body at the OAS responsible for strenghtening MLA at the OAS legal Secretariat.
Does not create additional bureaucracy and hurdles.
Is an inter-American space for international cooperation in criminal matters and related areas.

6. AMERICAjus Idea to be presented at the 4th Summit of the Americas.
To be considered for adoption by REMJA VI.
Structure being defined through the MLA Working Group

7. GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE OAS
WHAT IS AMERICAjus
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE OAS
REMJA
CICTE
website on MLA
CICAD
MLA
TOC
Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs of the OAS Permanent Council
AMERICAJUS
REMJA Working Group on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters and Extradition
Subcommittee Extradition
Subcommittee
Model LAw
Secure
The Conference
MEETING OF CENTRAL AUTHORITIES ON MUTUAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE
Consolidation of MLA files

8. Trafficking of persons MUTUAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE AND EXTRADITION
MUTUAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE AND EXTRADITION Essential components in the fight against identified target areas of criminal activity IN INTERAMERICAN COOPERATION
Drugs
CICAD
Terrorism
CICTE
Corruption
MESICIC
Weapons
CIFTA
Trafficking of persons
DOT
Money laundering
MUTUAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE AND EXTRADITION
AMERICAJUS

9. COMPONENTS OF AMERICAJUS
MEETING OF CENTRAL AUTHORITIES
The Conference
REMJA WORKING GROUP ON
MLA
Website
GROOVE
Model Law
Subcommittee
Extradition
Subcommittee
X DIP
Subcommittee

10. Plenary sessions – The Conference
STRUCTURE
Plenary sessions – The Conference
Ottawa, April 30 - May 2, 2003
Brasília, September 1-3, 2005
Target – 1(one), between each REMJA meeting, i.e. every two years
Minimum 50%+1 of all Member States of the OAS represented by experts
and
All other relevant authorities

11. Plenary sessions - AMERICAjus Conference WILL…
STRUCTURE
Plenary sessions - AMERICAjus Conference WILL…
Consider recommendations of the AMERICAjus W G.
Be the final stage prior to holding REMJA.
Bring recommendations to REMJA.
Recommend to the WG issues to work on and develop.

12. STRUCTURE
AMERICAjus Working Group
- One President (represented by a Member State, elected at the Conference session)
- One Vice-president (represented by a Member State, elected at a Conference session)
- One Secretary (General Secretariat of the OAS) Support from the Legal Secretariat
- Active participation by all central authorities
The functions of AMERICAjus must be determined by the Experts and their misions, submitted to REMJA; thus, Assembly should agree on the idea of accepting that We, the Experts, want the support of the OAS on a permanent basis and establish a long term structure of Experts on the Hemisphere level capable to enhance MLA

13. STRUCTURE CONFERENCE WG meeting OTTAWA 2003 1-2 March 2003 WG meeting
29-30 Oct. 2003
REMJA WG meeting
MARCH March 2004
29-30 Oct. 2004
CONFERENCE WG meeting
BRASILIA March 2005
SEPT WG meeting
29-30 Oct. 2005
MARCH March 2006
29-30 Oct. 2006
TWICE A YEAR
TWICE A YEAR
TWICE A YEAR
TWICE A YEAR

14. ULTIMATE OBJECTIVES
The ultimate objective of AMERICAJUS is to reinforce the justice systems of each member state by creating models for more efficient and better equipped local systems
AND
To assist the competent authorities of the Member States in extending the reach of their investigations and prosecutions.

15. TASKS AMERICAjus - General Objectives:
AMERICAjus will help foster greater cooperation and legal assistance throughout the Americas, to ensure the best possible cooperation between states in the resolution of international cases and to provide mechanisms for reducing obstacles to effective long term relations throughout the region.

16. AMERICAjus - Specific Objectives:
TASKS
AMERICAjus - Specific Objectives:
Assist and/or provide legal advice and consultative assistance to central authorities and other experts on mutual legal assistance.
Hold two regular meetings a year on relatively established dates, provide all appropriate support to the hosting country of the second annual conference meeting of all experts and provide travel assistance to needy recipients.
Hire staff to support MLA authorities and help them to stay on top of the most recent developments.
Cooperate, share expertise, and consolidate mutual legal assistance functions with other organs, organisms and entities of the OAS, including CICAD, CIFTA, CICTE, MESISIC, among others.

17. TASKS
Cooperate, share expertise, and consolidate mutual legal assistance functions with other international organizations and entities, including UNODC, Eurojust, and the European Union’s Anti-Fraud Organization, among others.
Recommend that national authorities undertake certain measures to improve their cooperation systems.
Act as a liaison and provide useful information to central authorities and other experts on mutual legal assistance.
Provide services to users of the Inter-American system for mutual legal assistance.
Maintain and update a list of contact persons, recognized central authorities, members and institutions dedicated to mutual legal assistance.

18. TASKS
Advise in relation to specific problems, voluntarily submitted by member states.
Provide training to central authorities on operation issues and recent developments in the area of mutual legal assistance and related matters.
Operate and manage inter alia the mutual legal assistance webpage and secure system.
Provide long-term growth potential for the development and capacity building of AMERICAjus

19. NEXT STEPS Agree on the idea of the project.
Receive support of the Heads of States /REMJA.
Start working on building AMERICAjus.