Barbados recognizes the contentious jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court

On Monday, June 5th, during the XXX Regular Session of OAS General Assembly in Windsor, Canada, a ceremony was held in which Barbados recognized the contentious jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court.

The following were present during this event of great significance for the consolidation of human rights protection in the inter-american system: the Barbados Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Billie A. Miller; the OAS Secretary General, Mr. César Gaviria Trujillo; the President of the Inter-American Court, Judge Antônio A. Cançado Trindade; the Vice-President, Judge Máximo Pacheco Gómez; the Secretary, Mr. Manuel E. Ventura Robles, as well as various OAS permanent ambassadors from the Caribbean.

Brazil donates sum to the Inter-American Court

Furthermore, in another ceremony on June 5th during the XXX Regular Session of OAS General Assembly in Windsor, Canada, the Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Luiz Felipe Lampreia, delivered to the President of the Court, Judge Antônio A. Cançado Trindade, a voluntary contribution of US$50,000 to strengthen the institutional activities of the Tribunal.

The President of the Court expressed gratitude at the Brazilian officials donation and emphasized its importance as the OAS itself is searching for additional resources to support human rights protection in the inter-american system.

Also present at the ceremony were the following: Ambassador Carlos Alberto Leite Barbosa, the OAS Permanent Representative from Brazil, as well as all of the Brazilian delegates to the OAS General Assembly. Other than its President, the Court was also represented by the Vice-President, Judge Máximo Pacheco Gómez, and the Secretary, Mr. Manuel E. Ventura Robles.

Agreement for Institutional Cooperation between the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the United Nations Development Programme

The Inter-American Court, represented by its President, Judge Antônio A. Cançado Trindade, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), represented by the Resident Representative in Costa Rica, Dr. Virginia Trimarco, signed a cooperative agreement on June 14, 2000, which will furnish the UNDP with the Court's judgments and advisory opinions and will provide the Court access to UNDP's global, regional, and national reports on human development, to be used in the Court's Center of Documentation.

Also present at this event, other than Judge Cançado Trindade and Dr. Trimarco, were the following: Dr. Jaime Ruiz de Santiago, Representative of the Central Service Office for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Dr. Rodolfo Piza Escalante, Former President of the Inter-American Court and Former Costa Rican Ambassador to the United Nations, Dr. Christian Tattenbach Iglesias, Member of the Executive Board of the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights and Former Costa Rican Ambassador to the United Nations, Manuel E. Ventura Robles, Secretary of the Court, and the personnel of the Inter-American Court.

Agreement for Institutional Cooperation between the Central Service Office for the United Nations High Commissioner for the Refugees (UNHCR) in Costa Rica and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

The Inter-American Court, represented by its President, Judge Antônio A. Cançado Trindade, and the Central Service Office for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), represented by Resident Director Dr. Jaime Ruiz de Santiago, signed an agreement on June 14, 2000. The agreement stipulates that the UNHCR will provide the Court's Center of Documentation materials regarding international refugee law, national legislation dealing with refugees, information about specific countries and other topics related to the functions and activities of the UNHCR. For its part, the Court committed itself to provide the UNHCR with access to all relevant OAS documents that the UNHCR may find useful.

Also present at this event, other than Judge Cançado Trindade and Dr. Ruiz de Santiago, were the following: Dr. Virginia Trimarco, Resident Representative of Costa Rica for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Dr. Rodolfo Piza Escalante, Former President of the Inter-American Court and Former Costa Rican Ambassador to the United Nations, Dr. Christian Tattenbach Iglesias, Member of the Executive Board of the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights and Former Costa Rican Ambassador to the United Nations, Manuel E. Ventura Robles, Secretary of the Court, and the personnel of the Inter-American Court.

The composition of the Inter-American Court is the following: Antônio A. Cançado Trindade (Brazil), President; Maximo Pacheco-Gomez (Chile), Vice-President; Hernan Salgado-Pesantes (Ecuador); Oliver Jackman (Barbados); Alirio Abreu-Burelli (Venezuela); Sergio Garcia-Ramirez (Mexico) and Carlos Vicente de Roux-Rengifo (Colombia). The Secretary of the Court is Manuel E. Ventura-Robles and the Deputy Secretary is Renzo Pomi.

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is an autonomous judicial institution of the Organization of American States, formally established in 1979. It is composed of jurists of the highest moral standing and competence in the field of human rights, in accordance with the American Convention on Human Rights.

For further information, please address all requests to:

Manuel E. Ventura-Robles

Secretary, Inter-American Court of Human Rights

P.O. Box 6906-1000

San Jose, Costa Rica

Telephone: (506) 234-0581, Fax: (506) 234-0584

E-Mail: corteidh@racsa.co.cr

San José, June 15, 2000.

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Footnotes

^(*) The contents of this release are the responsibility of the Secretariat of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The official text of the documents may be obtained by submitting a written request to the Secretariat at the address provided at the end of this document.