Proporcionality and alternative penal sanctions
Promoting a criminal justice response that protects the rights of women and vulnerable groups involved in minor drug-related offences
Criminal policy on drugs in Latin America and the Caribbean is undergoing a process of transformation. In response to the negative impacts of overly punitive criminal and penitentiary approaches, COPOLAD III promotes more humane, effective, and proportionate models, particularly concerning minor drug-related offences, which disproportionately affect women and vulnerable individuals.
Within this framework, the programme promotes technical tools, regulatory processes, and institutional coordination mechanisms that strengthen States’ capacities to move towards more balanced criminal justice systems focused on prevention, reintegration, and restorative justice.
All these initiatives share a cross-cutting approach based on human rights, gender, and public health, seeking to reduce the use of imprisonment, promote alternatives to incarceration, and ensure access to justice for the most vulnerable.
Results
Generation of regional standards
National measures with a rights-based and social inclusion approach.
- The Conference of Ministers of Justice of the Ibero-American Countries (COMJIB) has approved the Minimum Standards for the Humanisation of Criminal and Penitentiary Policy on Drugs. These standards address vulnerabilities related to micro-trafficking and possession for personal use, promoting more proportionate responses.
- The Inter-American Association of Public Defenders (AIDEF) has approved the Recommendations and Practices for a Gender-Sensitive Defence of Women Criminalised for Minor Drug Offences. These are currently under review by the Legal Committee of the Organisation of American States (OAS).
Costa Rica:
The Judiciary, the Costa Rican Drug Institute (ICD), and the Institute on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (IAFA) have approved a protocol for women in conflict with criminal law. It proposes alternatives to imprisonment for minor drug offences, prioritising rehabilitation and social inclusion, and is expected to serve as a regional reference.
Paraguay:
The National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD) and the Ministry of Public Defence have designed a national protocol for specialised criminal defence for women, based on AIDEF standards.
Dominican Republic:
The Judiciary has developed a model of juvenile restorative justice for adolescents in conflict with the law for minor drug offences.
Trinidad and Tobago:
The National Drug Council is exploring new institutional pathways towards penal alternatives, taking the Portuguese model of the Commissions for the Dissuasion of Drug Addiction as a reference.
Results
Generation of regional standards
- The Conference of Ministers of Justice of the Ibero-American Countries (COMJIB) has approved the Minimum Standards for the Humanisation of Criminal and Penitentiary Policy on Drugs. These standards address vulnerabilities related to micro-trafficking and possession for personal use, promoting more proportionate responses.
- The Inter-American Association of Public Defenders (AIDEF) has approved the Recommendations and Practices for a Gender-Sensitive Defence of Women Criminalised for Minor Drug Offences. These are currently under review by the Legal Committee of the Organisation of American States (OAS).
National measures with a rights-based and social inclusion approach.
Costa Rica:
The Judiciary, the Costa Rican Drug Institute (ICD), and the Institute on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (IAFA) have approved a protocol for women in conflict with criminal law. It proposes alternatives to imprisonment for minor drug offences, prioritising rehabilitation and social inclusion, and is expected to serve as a regional reference.
Paraguay:
The National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD) and the Ministry of Public Defence have designed a national protocol for specialised criminal defence for women, based on AIDEF standards.
Dominican Republic:
The Judiciary has developed a model of juvenile restorative justice for adolescents in conflict with the law for minor drug offences.
Trinidad and Tobago:
The National Drug Council is exploring new institutional pathways towards penal alternatives, taking the Portuguese model of the Commissions for the Dissuasion of Drug Addiction as a reference.
¿Cómo trabajamos?
Esquema regional
Conformación de tres grupos de trabajo con 28 países para generar reflexión a través de seminarios, guías conceptuales y metodológicas e intercambio de experiencias.Articulación con el Observatorio Interamericano de Drogas (OID) de la Comisión Interamericana para el Control del Abuso de Drogas (CICAD-OEA).
Aterrizaje multipaís y nacional
Lanzamiento de 22 acciones nacionales de fortalecimiento de OND con metas previstas y rutas de acompañamiento
Communication
Implementing partners
