Program of Activities

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Friday, October 31, 2008,

9.30-16.30

17.00
18.00
20.00

Working Panels IV, V & VI

Discussion and adoption of the Santo Domingo Resolution
Closing Session, National Congress of the Dominican Republic
Traditional Folkloric Dinner and Celebration, Museo de las Casas Reales

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Tour offered of the Colonial City of Santo Domingo

Lunch hosted by the National Congress of the Dominican Republic, El Pelicano restaurant

PGA Members of the International Council and the Executive Committee will meet on Saturday and Sunday November 1 and 2, 2008 at Hotel Hamaca and Hotel Embajador, respectively. All PGA members may attend the meeting of the International Council, which is the body that elects the Members of the Executive Committee and provides the membership with a platform for discussion of all PGA Programmes and Projects.

Agenda Items

1- OPENING SESSION: Strengthening Democratic Institutions, Accountability and the Rule of Law

• International Cooperation in support of State-building: review of current and past practices
  
  
• From Post-Conflict Peace-Building to rights-based State-Building: the Rule of Law and justice mechanisms in crisis, conflict and post-conflict situations
  
  
• Preventing massive migration flows through effective State-building? Case study: Haiti

2- Mainstreaming the Rule of Law, Justice and the Fight against Impunity in Development Cooperation

• Accountability: shifting from sanctions against States to individual responsibility
  
  
• Multilateral and bilateral cooperation: the role of Parliamentarians
  
  
• The United Nations Rule of Law Coordination and Resource Group: an assessment of the effectiveness of international intervention in Haiti
  
  
• The revised Cotonou Agreement between the Africa-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) countries and the European Union (ACP-EU): an assessment on the desirability and effectiveness of mainstreaming the ICC in regional Development Cooperation agendas

3- Promoting the Universality and Effectiveness of the International Criminal Court (ICC)

• Results of the PGA ICC Campaign: reports presented by PGA Members from Chile, Indonesia, Suriname and other Parliaments in which PGA Members have played a leadership role on the ICC
  
  
• Impact of the ICC in conflict situations and in the prevention of gross violations of human rights
  
  
• The Role of Parliamentarians and other stakeholders (e.g. the Organization of American States)

• Reforming Penal Codes and other relevant legislation (i.e. national Constitutions)
  
  
• Reforming laws on cooperation
  
  
• Financing the new system of international criminal justice
  
  
• Adopting measures to secure the cooperation of States and International Organizations in the fight against impunity for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes

• “Justice delayed is justice denied”: making sure that accountability is part of peace negotiations
  
  
• Impact of the ICC in Central African Republic, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Darfur/Sudan, the Dem. Rep. of the Congo, Kenya, Uganda and other countries on which the ICC has jurisdiction.

• The Review Conference of the Rome Statute of the ICC: the international negotiation on the crime of
  aggression in the Rome Statute and the debate on drug trafficking [a priority for the CARICOM]
  
  
• The evolving US position vis-à-vis the ICC and the impact of the Latin American position