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Background The current configuration of the Ibero-American Judicial Summit is the result of a development process that started in Madrid in 1990 with the "1st Summit of Presidents of Supreme Courts of Justice of Ibero-America, Spain and Portugal". This summit was followed by two more, also in Madrid and of a similar nature in 1994 and 1997 The 1st Ibero-American Summit of Presidents of the Supreme Courts and Tribunals of Justice took place in 1998. This led to a new stage in which the initiative and management processes came from the Republic of Venezuela, which is today known as the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The framework of the said summit gave rise to a technical monitoring unit for evaluating the impact of the actions and commitments assumed at the summit. The 2nd Ibero-American Summit of Presidents of the Supreme Courts of Justice took place in 1999 and, just like the previous one, was organised by the highest body of the said country's judiciary through a special office created specifically. Spain took the initiative in 2001 and announced the 6th Ibero-American Summit of Presidents of the Supreme Course and Tribunals, which was held in the Canary Islands. This summit was followed by another two in 2002 and 2004, which were held in Cancun and San Salvador, respectively. At the same time, the 1st Ibero-American Encounter of Councils of the Judiciary was held in Sucre in 1998. The event was followed by another three encounters in 2001, 2002 and 2004, which were held in Barcelona, Zacatecas and Copan, respectively. The current Ibero-American Judicial Summit is the result of the merger or convergence of the two former structures as and from the month of June 2004: the Ibero-American Summit of Presidents of Supreme Courts and Tribunals of Justice and the Ibero-American Encounter of Councils of the Judiciary. The merger was carried out on the basis of the transcendental declarations of Copán-San Salvador, in which the Presidents agreed to constitute one single structure that would be the unified spokesbody for the highest instances of the judicial powers in the region of Ibero-America. For the purpose of numbering the successive editions, the sum of those that have been held so far for the courts and for the councils has been taken. |
