El 10 de abril de 2011, en el portal Social Science Research Network (SSRN), apareció un artículo de Álvaro Paúl titulado 'Sana Crítica': The System for Evaluating Evidence Utilized by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Este es el abstract:
"The Spanish version of the case law of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights often states that this tribunal’s assessment of evidence is ruled by sana crítica, a notion which has received several translations in the English version of the Court’s case law. This concept has a clear meaning in Hispanic civil law systems. Sana crítica is a method for evaluating evidence in which a court or tribunal is not constrained by the evidentiary rules of legal proof, but rather is obliged to judge in accordance with the rules of logic and experience, and to state the grounds for its evaluation of evidence. For a better understanding of sana crítica or sound judicial discretion, this paper will refer to the other systems used for the weighing of evidence in the Hispanic legal tradition, especially to the oft-loathed method of legal proof, which requires the judge to give a previously defined weight to specific items of evidence. Reference will be made also to the differences between the systems used for evaluating evidence and other related concepts, such as the standards of proof. The above description of the concept of sana crítica will be illuminated with a few comments on how the Inter-American Court applies the system of sound judicial discretion."
