During the 56th Ordinary Session of the Organization of American States General Assembly, hosted this year in Panama City, delegates voted overwhelmingly to reelect the Dominican Republic to a second consecutive term on the organization’s influential Inter-American Juridical Committee (CJI) via acclamation. This outcome cements the Dominican Republic’s ongoing role in shaping critical legal and diplomatic dialogue across the Western Hemisphere.
The Dominican Republic will be represented on the committee by distinguished jurist Julio José Rojas Báez, who already holds two key leadership positions within the CJI: current committee president and special rapporteur focused on the legal ramifications of sea level rise across the inter-American region. Alongside the Dominican Republic, candidates from Brazil and Mexico also secured seats on the committee during the same electoral process.
In an official statement following the vote, the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that the reelection is far more than a routine procedural outcome: it signals the country’s expanding clout in global multilateral governance, and serves as international recognition of the high level of expertise held by Dominican legal practitioners.
As the primary advisory body to the OAS on all legal matters, the CJI plays a foundational role in advancing the evolution and formal codification of international law across the Americas. It also works to strengthen cross-border legal cooperation and advance political and legal integration among the 35 member states of the Organization of American States.