PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad–Regional courts of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) should be guaranteed a stable, sufficient, autonomous budgetary framework, according to applicable law, according to a declaration adopted at the First Hemispheric Meeting of Regional Courts on The Rule of Law and International Justice.
The meeting acknowledging the diverse mechanisms for funding said it recognized that the utilization of trust funds or multi-year financial frameworks could constitute appropriate arrangements that respect judicial independence and the proper functioning of regional courts.
The Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), in collaboration with the Central American Court of Justice, the Court of Justice of the Andean Community, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, organized the meeting held here last weekend and adopted the declaration that also re-affirmed their commitment to the principles and objectives contained in their founding documents.
According to the declaration, the rule of law is essential to the growth and flourishing of human society and that regional courts and tribunals are necessary to guarantee the rule of law, justice, and democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean, within their respective competencies, and require appropriate institutional frameworks to fulfill these high juridical functions.
The declaration called on regional courts to deliver judgments promptly, and that member states of provincial courts should provide the appropriate institutional frameworks.
“Each of the courts’ corresponding governing treaty, agreed by member states, provides the basis to guarantee the rule of law as practiced in democratic societies served by those courts,” the declaration noted, adding that the designation or the selection process of the judges and magistrates of regional courts in Latin America and the Caribbean must be transparent and permit the selection of suitable judicial officers based on objective legal criteria that guide the final designation or selection process, including geographic and gender balance considerations.
“We recognize the desirability, if the applicable law allows, to establish technical selection committees, made up of relevant and independent individuals from among the judiciary, attorneys, legal academics, public service, and civil society as a means to facilitate the practical function of appointing judicial officers.”
The declaration notes that compliance with and implementation of the judgments of regional courts are crucial to ensuring respect for the rule of law in Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly in matters of high importance, in compliance with their jurisdiction, such as respect for human rights and the rights of diverse groups in situations of vulnerability, economic integration, and environmental justice.
It said adequate and timely enforcement and implementation of the judgments of regional courts serve to solidify persons as subjects of the international legal system since countless essential rights of individuals are supported, directly or indirectly, by International Law, International Human Rights Law, or Community Law in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The next meeting of Hemispheric Regional Courts will be held in Costa Rica and hosted by the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights in 2023.
and then 
