ABA ROLI held Ethics Seminars in Bogotá to Strengthen the Rodrigo Lara Bonilla Judicial Training School (JTS)

Judge Jimmie V. Reyna, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, presents during the first of two ethics
seminars led by ABA ROLI in support of our programming in Colombia.

Earlier this year, ABA ROLI held two ethics seminars in support of it's Building Better Justice: Strengthening Judicial Training in Colombia program, funded by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).  Attended by 17 judges and magistrates, the first multi-day seminar from January 27-28 in Bogotá consisted of practical workshops on judicial ethics. The seminar included lectures by international expert, Hon. Judge Jimmie V. Reyna of the U.S Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and Dr. Alexander Restrepo Ramirez, a regional expert on judicial ethics, as well as a discussion panel moderated by Orlando Muñoz-Neira, the Country Director for ABA ROLI Colombia. The second ethics seminar was held from January 30-31, 2020 in Cali, Colombia, for 26 judges and magistrates, and included Colombian expert on judicial ethics,  Dr. Luis Fernando Álvarez Jaramillo, former president of the Council of the State of Colombia.

In early 2019, ABA ROLI initiated a new program in Colombia, in coordination with the Superior Council of the Judiciary of Colombia. The Program seeks to strengthen the capacity of the Rodrigo Lara Bonilla Judicial Training School (JTS) in addressing Colombia’s dynamic criminal justice challenges and the needs of a diverse judicial system. Specifically, the program focuses on improving the JTS' administration of judicial education, especially with respect to criminal law, for the more than 5,400 judges and 25,800 court personnel who make up the Colombian judicial system. The training of new judges and continuing education of experienced judges is crucial to Colombia’s judicial system. In that vein, our program is designed to support host country partners in enhancing access to legal education opportunities for Colombian judges and court personnel.

Photos from the ABA ROLI-led two-week long assessment held July 2019 to assess the JTS' strengths and its legal education and professional development opportunities.

ABA ROLI designed the judicial ethics workshops based on the results of a two-week long assessment that we conducted in July 2019. ABA ROLI's international experts, Silvana Stanga and Jose Guillen, interviewed over 150 judges and court staff from various regions of the country as part of this assessment, which sought to evaluate the institution's strengths and its legal education and professional development opportunities. Through these interviews, participants provided broad input on the JTS’ strengths and weaknesses, including the school’s operational capacity, the quality of the JTS’ substantive legal training curricula, political issues impacting the JTS’ daily operations, and issues with the JTS’ state-sponsored budgeting process.

On January 29, ABA ROLI hosted a meeting with Colombia’s Minister of Justice, Ms. Margarita Cabello; Judge Reyna; representatives from the Superior Council of the Judiciary, the Constitutional Court, and the Council of the State (three of Colombia’s four high courts); INL; and the JTS, as well as other stakeholders. The discussion revolved around the issue of judicial education and comparative perspectives between Colombia and the U.S.

Colombia's Minister of Justice, Ms. Margarita Cabello attends an ABA ROLI-hosted meeting on January 29, 2020.

In November 2019, ABA ROLI's field office in Colombia officially opened. Pictured here are our Colombia staff members (from left to right): Felipe Franco, Maritza Prada-Jurado, and Country Director Orlando Muñoz-Neira.

Learn more about ABA ROLI’s work across Latin American and the Caribbean.