Since 2012, in coordination with justice sector institutions and the Peruvian Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative’s (ABA ROLI) in-country program has supported the implementation of the new accusatorial criminal procedure code (CPC) through a series of trainings, workshops and online courses. Designed to promote an understanding of the accusatorial system and provide necessary skills, investigation and litigation trainings prepare judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and police for operating effectively within the new system. Since August 2016, ABA ROLI has trained 340 justice sector actors on environmental crime, juvenile justice, transnational crime, money laundering and human and drug trafficking.
May 31, 2018
Experiencing Peruvian Judicial Reforms Firsthand
In a recent trip to Peru, ABA ROLI delegates met with in-country partners to learn more about how ABA ROLI programming is making an impact within the country.
In May, led by the chair of the LAC Council, ABA ROLI board member and member of the ABA House of Delegates, Laura Farber, three other delegates joined the LAC Division Director Nerea Aparicio and Peru Country Director Raúl Callirgos, in Lima, Peru to meet with in-country partners. The delegation included Dale Cottam, member of the ABA House of Delegates and LAC Council, ABA ROLI Board Member Victor Marquez and the Honorable Peter J. Messitte, LAC Council advisor. During the trip, members of the delegation heard from Peruvian justice sector officials about the impact of ABA ROLI programming and justice sector support. They learned more about the Peruvian justice sector’s continued priorities, challenges and areas of focus for the future.
Funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), ABA ROLI also assists the Peruvian judiciary in assessing its national plan to provide access to justice opportunities to vulnerable populations, assisting the efforts of the justice sector to adopt a rehabilitative approach to juvenile justice and supporting the implementation of new flagrancy procedures contained in the CPC. ABA ROLI’s hands-on simulation modules used in the trainings, allow participants to apply the knowledge and skills learned from the program, into their everyday work.
“It is exciting to hear directly from all of our in-country partners how our ABA ROLI program is well known, highly regarded and has made enormous contributions to the implementation of a new criminal justice system that guarantees due process and, at the same time, contributes to the development of the judicial sector's investigation and litigation skills to fight corruption, organized crime and illegal mining,” Farber said.
The delegation met with Peru’s Attorney General Pablo Sánchez Velarde; Supreme Court Chief Justice Duberlí Rodríguez; Supreme Court Justice Janet Tello Gilardi, coordinator of the National Access to Justice for Vulnerable Persons Program; Supreme Prosecutor Zoraida Avalos, national coordinator for Criminal Prevention Programs; General Miguel Ángel Núñez, director of criminal investigation for the Peruvian National Police; and Public Defender’s Office Director Luis Yshii Meza, among other top officials. These high-level officials discussed the importance of ABA ROLI support throughout the country and current programming in Lima and Callao, where 40 percent of Peru’s population resides.
The delegation also met with the U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Lawrence J. Gumbiner, INL Director Alberto Rodriguez and representatives from INL in Peru, to report on their visit and conversations with Peruvian justice sector officials and discuss ongoing collaboration.
To learn more about our work in Peru, please contact the ABA Rule of Law Initiative at rol@americanbar.org.