Support public and private initiatives and programs to educate people about their rights relating to access to justice, and promote measures that ensure prompt, equal and universal access to justice;

Promote cooperation to exchange experiences in alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to expedite the administration of justice, including among indigenous peoples, for which they may request the support as appropriate of the OAS, the IDB and other entities;

Encourage measures to strengthen the independence of the judiciary, including transparent judicial selection, secure tenure on the bench, appropriate standards of conduct and systems of accountability;

Continue to support the work done in the context of the Meetings of Ministers of Justice and Attorneys General of the Americas, whose Fourth Meeting will take place in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as subsequent meetings, and the implementation of their conclusions and recommendations;

Develop a funding plan for the Justice Studies Center for the Americas that takes into account the interests and resources of both governments and other likely donors, and that will enable the Center to contribute not only to the modernization and formulation of public policy in this area, but also to the institutional development of judicial systems in the region;

Develop an exchange of best practices and recommendations, through the Meetings of Ministers of Justice and other appropriate mechanisms, seeking the technical and financial support of other multilateral organizations and MDBs where appropriate, that are consistent with international human rights standards, to reduce the number of pre-trial detainees, institute alternative forms of sentencing for minor crimes and improve prison conditions throughout the Hemisphere;

Establish, in the OAS, an Internet-based network of information among competent legal authorities on extradition and mutual legal assistance to facilitate direct communications among them on a regular basis and to identify common problems in handling specific cases and issues that merit collective attention and resolution;

Recognizing the extreme nature of the drug problem in the region, renewing their unwavering commitment to fight it in all its manifestations from an integral perspective, in accordance with the principle of shared responsibility, through the coordination of national efforts and in a spirit of cooperation and mutual respect as established in the Hemispheric Anti-Drug Strategy, and also recognizing the work accomplished by the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) and the Governmental Experts Group appointed to undertake the first round of the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM):

• Note with satisfaction the creation and implementation of the MEM, and reiterate their commitment to make this instrument, unique in the world, a central pillar of assistance toward effective hemispheric cooperation in the struggle against all the component elements of the global drug problem;

• Implement the proposals and recommendations found in the national and hemispheric reports, approved by CICAD, in accordance with the specific situation of each country;

• Continue strengthening and reviewing the MEM to monitor national and hemispheric efforts against drugs, and recommend concrete actions to encourage inter-American cooperation and national strategies to combat this scourge;
  
  Recommend:
  
  - Intensifying joint IDB-CICAD efforts in order to obtain financial resources from the international donor community, through consultative groups supporting anti-drug efforts, for alternative development, as well as demand reduction programs;
  
  - Establishing units with financial intelligence functions in countries that have not yet done so, with the support of CICAD and international agencies specialized in this area, and for which, in this context, it is recommended that CICAD and IDB training efforts be expanded;
  
  - Developing, within the framework of CICAD, a long-term strategy that includes a three-year program to establish a basic and homogeneous mechanism to estimate the social, human and economic costs of the drug problem in the Americas, and to support countries through the necessary technical assistance;

• Promote bilateral and multilateral cooperation and information exchange on policies and actions concerning drug prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and supply control, and develop educational campaigns to promote public awareness of the risk of drug consumption;

• Support measures to impede organized crime, money-laundering, the diversion of chemical precursors, the financing of armed groups, and other illicit activities resulting from drug and arms trafficking;

• Promote bilateral and multilateral cooperation in order to consider in an integral manner the displacement phenomenon of different factors related to the drug problem, including the displacement of persons and illicit crops;

Encourage all countries in the Hemisphere to consider signing and ratifying, ratifying, or acceding to, as soon as possible and as the case may be, the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, its Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air and its Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, as well as the Protocol Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components, and Ammunition, once that protocol is open for signature;

Implement collective strategies, including those that emerge from the Meetings of Ministers of Justice of the Americas, to enhance the institutional ability of states to exchange information and evidence by concluding international agreements on mutual legal assistance where necessary, develop and circulate national reports, and strengthen cooperation, seeking the technical and financial support of multilateral organizations and MDBs where appropriate, in order to jointly combat emerging forms of transnational criminal activity, including trafficking in persons and the laundering of the proceeds and assets of crime and cyber-crime;

Review national laws and policies to improve cooperation in areas such as mutual legal assistance, extradition and deportation to countries of origin, acknowledging the serious concerns of countries that deport certain foreign nationals for committing crimes in those countries and the serious concerns of the receiving countries about the negative effect of these deportations on the incidence of criminality in the countries of origin, and express the desire to work together, as appropriate, to address the negative effects on our societies.

Promote, where necessary, and in accordance with national legislation, the adoption of investigation techniques, contained in the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, which are very important tools in the fight against organized crime;
 

Recognizing that violence and crime are serious obstacles to social harmony and the democratic and socio-economic development of the Hemisphere, and as well noting the urgent need for an integral approach toward the prevention of violence:

• Encourage national institutions to work together and coordinate with all appropriate multilateral organizations and MDBs in order to implement integrated programs that include initiatives for conflict resolution, where appropriate, for sustained prevention, permanent attention, public education and treatment relevant to cases of violence against persons, families and communities, strengthening national institutional capacities in these areas;

• Consider developing cooperation with the media and entertainment industry with a view to avoiding the promotion and dissemination of a culture of violence, thus contributing to a culture of peace;

• Encourage greater use of community-based policing, to develop increased dialogue and interaction of law enforcement authorities with civil society and local communities;

• Promote cooperation to modernize criminal law, using information and communications technologies as appropriate, with a focus on human rights training and prevention of acts of violence, particularly violence perpetrated by law enforcement officials, in order to reduce violence against civilians and foster values necessary in our societies to retain social harmony;

• Promote the exchange of national experiences and best practices on the use of police profiling with a view to preventing biased detentions, which tend to affect mostly minorities and the poor;

• Expand opportunities to share experiences, techniques and best practices among government and civil society agencies involved in combating psychological, sexual or physical violence in the domestic setting and on the job, recognizing that such violence is overwhelmingly directed against women and children;

• Seek to adopt necessary measures to prevent, impede and punish violence, the segregation and exploitation of women, minors, the elderly, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups, and seek to ensure that national legislation addresses acts of violence against them and that these laws are enforced, recognizing that where victims of violence require legal assistance to obtain redress, every effort should be made to guarantee that they receive such assistance;

• Request multilateral and other organizations that participate in the Inter-American Coalition for the Prevention of Violence to intensify their support and technical assistance to those countries that so request, in the elaboration of national strategies and actions regarding this topic;

• Promote concrete measures to prevent hostile actions against minorities in the Hemisphere, as well as the violent activities of local, regional and international movements that support and foster racist ideologies and terrorist practices to reach their goals;

• Increase regional cooperation with a view to preventing the criminal use of firearms and ammunition, and examine additional measures and laws at the national level if required;

• Implement, as soon as possible, the Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Materials, and apply the CICAD Model Regulations, as appropriate;