American University/Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca
Country:
Mexico
Award Date:
2006
Award Amount:
$299,969.00
Cost Share:
$167,834.00
Other Partners:
Due Process of Law Foundation, Adult Literacy Program, National Human Rights Commission, Oaxaca State Criminal Court, Oaxaca State Senate
The AU and UABJO partnership adopts a comprehensive approach to the training of indigenous lawyers in: 1) the tenets of the newly proposed criminal procedure code of Oaxaca; 2) the relationship between usos y costumbres law and other state and federal laws; and 3) the ongoing debate on reconciling customary law in criminal procedures, elections and representation, and in other important areas, such as agrarian law. The partnership is implementing a series of “hands on” training programs to facilitate graduate-level legal training to ensure indigenous lawyers have the resources to begin taking cases in their regions of origin, to broadcast multilingual translations of conferences on indigenous radio stations, publish edited volumes and reports from several local and international conferences, and conduct research on the evolving relationship between state and federal laws (including the criminal procedure reforms) and indigenous customary practices.