EUROsociAL has supported the Chilean Judiciary's Secretariat for Equality, Gender and Non-Discrimination, so that the justice administration might have the appropriate tools to ensure that the gender approach is present in judicial sentencing
The EUROsociAL+ Programme has worked closely with the Chilean Judiciary’s Secretariat for Equality, Gender and Non-Discrimination to prepare a good practices manual aimed at the judiciary that incorporates the gender perspective in the justice administration. The objective of this joint action has been to draft this good practices manual and its respective implementation guide so that those who apply justice have the necessary tools to include the gender perspective in resolving the cases brought before them and to ensure that it is reflected in the sentences passed.
To achieve this essential objective it has been necessary to see comparative experiences in terms of design, implementation and evaluation, and to develop joint activities with members of the Chilean Judiciary and other foreign peer institutions in order to raise awareness regarding the effectiveness and necessity of a good practices manual on the subject.
The accompaniment route proposed by the European Union EUROsociAL programme, included a study visit to Spain (Provincial Court of Madrid, Supreme Court, General Council of the Judiciary), Germany (Constitutional Court, Federal Supreme Court) and European institutions in France (Council of Europe and European Court of Human Rights).
This itinerary also included two international meetings in the Chilean cities of Valdivia and Santiago, to call together Latin American and European specialists on the issue. Likewise, the expertise of two women with extensive professional experience in the world of the judiciary has also been called on. They are the former Colombian Supreme Court judge, Lucía Arbeláez de Tobón, and the specialist Esmeralda Ruiz, who collaborated in drafting the Colombian Supreme Court’s existing manual on the subject.
Similarly, their support has been of particular relevance regarding the methodology for drafting the good practices manual and for the design of effective dissemination and training strategies. These two specific objectives were raised by the gender equality policy area, coordinated in EUROsociAL by Expertise France, and they have been reflected in the two previously mentioned products. The products were shared in a final dissemination workshop that brought together almost 50 participants representing the Chilean Appeals Courts. At the workshop, the president of the Chilean Supreme Court affirmed its commitment to applying the good practices manual to reduce inequality between men and women.
The creation of a good practices manual is intended to bring about a change at an institutional level with respect to improving the quality of the judgements issued by Chilean courts, by giving judges the tools on which to base their decisions. This institutional change can potentially play a transforming role in society due to the characteristics of judicial decisions and their effect on the lives of people and the community.
Área de políticas de igualdad de género, Programa EUROsociAL+ / Gender Policy Area. EUROsociAL+ Programme. Expertise France
