In coordination with the Agencia de El Salvador para la Cooperación Internacional (El Salvador’s Agency for International Cooperation), the IAEA organized a legislative assistance mission to discuss national legislation and relevant international legal instruments in nuclear safety, security, safeguards, and civil liability for nuclear damage. The mission took place in San Salvador, El Salvador from 20 to 24 February 2023.
The mission included a national workshop, conducted in Spanish, that was attended by legal advisors, officials and experts from various ministries and institutions in El Salvador. These ministries and institutions work in the areas of criminal justice, health, agriculture, civil protection, medicine, sanitation, energy, foreign affairs, trade and investment and education.
Participants highlighted the important role of the workshop in providing a thorough introduction to the highly complex and deeply relevant area of nuclear law. Ana María Corleto Perdomo, Legal Advisor at the Secretaría Jurídica de la Presidencia (Legal Secretariat of the Presidency), noted that the workshop provided an initial “exposure to the highly specialized knowledge in the area of nuclear law,” which she said would directly and positively impact the needs of the national state institutions.
In addition, María Auxiliadora Guerrero de Ayala, Legal Manager with INE, S.A. de C.V., emphasized that nuclear law “was not a subject assigned in [her] law studies and will bear fruit through further research and development in El Salvador.”
During the workshop, Patricia Lissette Aguilar Peñate, Legal Advisor at the Ministerio de Salud (Ministry of Health), delivered a presentation providing an overview of current and proposed activities and facilities using ionizing radiation. The presentation also discussed the status of El Salvador’s legal framework, and recent expansions of its framework and legislative assistance needs.
The mission also included meetings with government officials to raise awareness about the importance of developing comprehensive nuclear legislation to support the safe and secure use of nuclear techniques and ionizing radiation. “Officials identified the need to further enhance their domestic legal framework, including through the development of a comprehensive nuclear law,” said Matthew D’Orsi, the focal point for the IAEA’s Legislative Assistance Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean. “We look forward to supporting efforts to enhance El Salvador’s legal framework in this regard, upon request,” D’Orsi added.
The legislative assistance mission was one in a series of events held within the context of the IAEA’s Legislative Assistance Programme, which includes the Agency’s current regional technical cooperation project, entitled, “Establishing and Enhancing National Legal Frameworks in Member States”. The programme covers all areas of nuclear law and includes regional, sub-regional and national activities that help countries to assess, review and develop nuclear legislation. These activities also support adherence to and effective implementation of the relevant international instruments in nuclear law.
