The six interns who have made Santiago de Chile their home since August continue to learn about and participate in the criminal procedure and other reforms underway in the thin Andean country.
As part of the Internship program, the students got the opportunity to meet with two of the technocrats who championed the penal procedure reform for the last decade. A two hour seminar was held on October 18, 2007 with Jorg Stippel, a German lawyer who ran the GTZ (German Government Technical Cooperation Agency) program for the rule of law and Angel Valencia Vasquez, former Director the Law School at Universidad Catolica de Temuco, former Ministry of Justice advisor, and a former prosecutor. Both lawyers continue to work and promote reforms in Chile and around Latin America.
For the interns, it was important to learn that their efforts during their internships, with new public institutions created since 2000, are part of long and rich history.
"It was great to hear from the parents of the reform," said James Cooper, Director of Proyecto ACCESO and advisor to the interns through California Western School of Law.
"We were more like the cousins of the reforms than the fathers, "said Angel Valencia. "The cousins who no one likes," added Jorg Stippel.