International law in the inter-American system

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

We thank the Chair of the Permanent Council and the Permanent Mission of Mexico for organizing this special meeting, and we likewise wish to thank Dr. Jean Michel Arrighi and Dr. Dante Negro, as well as all the panelists who have joined us today, for their valuable contributions, of which we have taken due note.

The Dominican Delegation recognizes the relevance and importance of the Inter-American Program for the Development of International Law, which today celebrates its Twenty-Fifth Anniversary and which was adopted in 1997, within the framework of the principles and purposes set out in the Charter of the Organization of American States and bearing in mind the 1996 Declaration of Panama on the Inter-American Contribution to the Development and Codification of International Law. We also take the liberty of reaffirming our support for the noble objectives of this Inter-American Program for the Development of International Law, which are to contribute to the development and codification of international law within the framework of the Organization of American States (OAS), to promote the widest possible dissemination of the inter-American legal system and to foster cooperation for the development, dissemination and teaching of international law in our Hemisphere.

It is important to stress that the subjects addressed are of great importance for both public and private law, and that the Program makes it possible to encourage analysis and to generate an open dialogue on relevant subjects such as those mentioned by Dr. Negro. As Professor Claudio Grossman observed, the future too is something that must concern us in this field; in particular, the legal implications of sea-level rise are of singular importance for the Dominican Republic in the years ahead.

We commend the work of the Department of International Law (DIL) of the Secretariat for Legal Affairs (SLA) in carrying out its activities for the implementation of the Inter-American Program for the Development of International Law and in the support it provides both to the political organs of this Organization and to the Member States.

Finally, the Dominican Republic reaffirms its commitment to support the activities carried out by the Department of International Law under the Inter-American Program for the Development of International Law, since this allows for the development and promotion of international law and enriches the inter-American legal system.

Thank you very much.