Judicial Studies Institute: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor addresses virtually judges from Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, and Panama

As part of a Department of Justice (DOJ) training programme for Western Hemisphere judiciaries, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor spoke to 24 judges from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, and Panama today at the Judicial Studies Institute (JSI) in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Justice Sotomayor praised them for their involvement in reshaping Latin American justice and emphasised the significance of their contributions to the rule of law in the Western Hemisphere.

In response to the wave of justice sector reforms in Latin America, during which many nations made the switch from inquisitorial to adversarial systems of justice, the Justice Department’s Office of Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, and Training (OPDAT) launched JSI in 2012 with the support of Justice Sotomayor and in collaboration with the Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

Participating judges learned about evidentiary rules, the function of judges, courtroom management in an adversarial judicial system, human smuggling, and judgement without gender, among other crucial subjects, through Spanish lecture, hands-on activities, and courtroom observation.In response to the wave of justice sector reforms in Latin America, during which many nations made the switch from inquisitorial to adversarial systems of justice, the Justice Department’s Office of Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, and Training (OPDAT) launched JSI in 2012 with the support of Justice Sotomayor and in collaboration with the Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

Participating judges learned about evidentiary rules, the function of judges, courtroom management in an adversarial judicial system, human smuggling, and judgement without gender, among other crucial subjects, through Spanish lecture, hands-on activities, and courtroom observation.

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Given the stark contrasts between the two systems, this capacity building is essential for the area. For instance, under an inquisitorial system, judges conduct written debates behind closed doors to assess charges and establish guilt. In an adversarial system, the judge serves as an objective arbitrator in charge of analysing the facts and defending the rights of the accused and the victim in a public courtroom.

JSI encourages its graduates to become change agents within their judiciaries by providing judicial counterparts with the chance to gain useful skills. Many JSI graduates who received training from the DOJ went on to act as force multipliers in the area by providing instruction to their respective judiciaries and for upcoming OPDAT programmes.

More than 1,000 judges from Latin America have received training from OPDAT and its partners at the Inter-American University and University of Puerto Rico law schools, as well as the Puerto Rico State Judiciary and the U.S. Federal Judiciary, since the establishment of JSI in 2012. This significant and long-lasting endeavour turns 10 years old this year.

Please visit https://www.justice.gov/criminal-opdat for more information about OPDAT’s capacity-building efforts around the world.