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Costa Rica Feb 08 2013
Costa Rica Opens Two Pilot Drug Treatment Courts with OAS Support
Costa Rica has set in
motion a partnership between its court system and government by setting up a
Program for Drug Treatment Under Judicial Supervision, starting with the first
two pilot drug treatment courts in San Jose, in collaboration with the
Organization of American States, through the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control
Commission (CICAD).
A Drug Treatment Court (DTC) is an innovative approach to dealing with
non-violent criminal offenses related to drug addiction, placing offenders in
treatment under court supervision, instead of sending them to jail.
The program also aims to lower the prison population, as well as the
associated expenditure. The new
courts will open at two locations, downtown San Jose and the suburb of Pavas.
Former Vice-Minister of the Presidency for Security Affairs and CICAD chair
Mauricio Boraschi said, “This project offers alternatives to those people
who commit misdemeanors, for which the commission of crime involves drug
addiction, for whom the system offers an opportunity on three points: treatment,
dealing with the criminal system in a different way, and reinsertion into
society, and for which the commitment of multiple sectors is vital.”
On behalf of the Organization of American States, its representative in Costa
Rica, Henry Jova underscored the commitment that the government of Costa Rica
has had to achieve this initiative. The OAS has assisted Costa Rica for the past
two years, with funding from the government of Canada.
The ceremony capped off
two days of specialized training for the team of professionals that will be
handling DTC cases, including judges, prosecutors, public defenders, and
treatment providers, among others. The OAS brought DTC experts judges, Judge
Rogelio Flores of the United States, Judge Alberto Amiot of Chile, and Dr. Jesus
Salazar of Mexico, to share their experience in the seminar.
Speaking as the coordinator of this judicial initiative, Dr. Doris Arias
Madrigal, said that this program “… favors the democratic ideal that our
Constitution inspires in us, under which all are guaranteed equality, inclusion,
that all voices are heard, that justice is done, and that people take control of
their lives and can participate in the decision making that affects them.”
Costa Rica is now the second country to launch a DTC pilot project under the OAS’s Drug Treatment Courts in the Americas program. Trinidad and Tobago launched a pilot program in San Fernando in September 2012. Barbados and the Dominican Republic will follow their example later this year. This approach has been successfully implemented in countries such as Canada, the United States, Chile and Jamaica.
Presentations / Speakers
PRIMER ENCUENTRO DE
PROFESIONALES RESPONSABLES. Dr. Jesús Salazar Villegas
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updated on 9/4/2013 12:05:42 PM
