A UIHJ delegation, headed by its President, Marc Schmitz, and composed by Luís Ortega, Vice-President and Malone Cunha, member of the Board, were in Colombia for the first time on an official visit, from 28 to 31 March 2023.
The visit to this South American country began in its capital, Bogotá, where the delegation was welcomed by Asonal Judicial S.I., in the person of its President, Luís Otalvaro, and the member of the national board, José Restreppo. In the capital, on March 29, the UIHJ was received at the Colombian National Parliament by three representatives, Jorge Tamayo, José Alberto Tejada and Luz Maria Munera. Also on the same date, the UIHJ was received at the Palace of the Ministry of Justice of Colombia. On both occasions, the UIHJ was able to introduce itself to the national authorities, as well as present its history of activities on behalf of the Judicial Officers at an international level. Specifically at the Ministry, topics of interest to the administration of justice and actions in the international framework were dealt with, with the collaboration of the Ministry of Justice for future relations. On the occasion, copies of the Global Code of enforcement and of the Global Code of Digital Enforcement drawn up by the UIHJ were delivered.
On March 30, the UIHJ headed to the city of Cali, in the department of Valle del Cauca, where the UIHJ was received at an event named “Meeting for Peace and Justice in Cali”, opportunity in which about 50 professionals from the Judiciary gathered at the National Palace of Justice in Cali. During the meeting, the UIHJ presented its Latin American Forum as a channel for international interaction between Judicial Officers on the continent, as well as learned about relevant cases of judicial issues in Colombia, especially those related to the security of judicial professionals, in the exercise of their duties.
Finally, on March 31, the UIHJ had a moment of interaction with the city’s exclusive judicial enforcement professionals, where it learned about their difficulties and presented suggestions for improvements in enforcement activity. It then met again at the National Palace of Justice in Cali, this time with judges who learned about the activities of the UIHJ.
