Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law (Vol. 5, No.1, 2015)

Reporte elaborado por Oswaldo Ruiz-Chiriboga.

En el último volumen de la Revista Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law (Vol. 5, No.1, 2015) se publicaron varios artículos relativos al Sistema Interamericano:

The Rules and the Reality of Petition Procedures in the Inter-American Human Rights System

Dinah Shelton

 

Abstract

In this Essay, Professor Dinah Shelton draws on her personal experience as a member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to discuss the underlying causes of a "crisis of commitment" to the Inter-American system of human rights. Shelton traces the roots of this crisis in large part to the Inter-American petition procedures. Giving an in-depth account of the structure of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the details of the petition procedures, Shelton explores the issues of legitimacy, transparency, effectiveness, and efficiency raised by various aspects of the petitioning process, and discusses the various ways in which these issues in the petition process contribute to the broader crisis of the system's authority. She ultimately concludes with a series of proposed reforms—ranging from radical to relatively simple—for improving the structure and procedures of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, with a view toward restoring the credibility of human rights protections in the Americas.

Between Idealism and Realism: A Few Comparative Reflections and Proposals on the Appointment Process of the Inter-American Commission and Court of Human Rights Members

Laurence Burgorgue-Larsen

In this Article, Professor Laurence Burgorgue-Larsen, a renowned scholar in European and Latin-American law, explores flaws in the process by which members are appointed to the Inter-American Commission and Court of human rights, respectively. Seeking to strike a balance between "Idealism" and "Realism," Burgorgue-Larsen seeks methods for improving the independence and impartiality of the Commissioners and Judges in the Inter-American system in the hopes of ultimately lending greater credibility and legitimacy to the system as a whole. Drawing comparisons to the appointment of judges on national and international courts worldwide, Burgorgue-Larsen ultimately produces specific suggestions for improving the appointment process, ranging from scrutiny of candidates' human rights competencies and language skills to increasing efforts to diversify the candidate pool, particularly in terms of gender and ethnicity. She concludes by suggesting that greater structural changes, including adjustments to tenure and appointment procedures, might eventually prove the best solution for ensuring the survival of the Inter-American system.

Death Penalty, Amnesty Laws, and Forced Disappearances: Three Main Topics of the Inter-American Corpus Juris in Criminal Law

Eduardo Ferrer Mac-Gregor and Pablo González Domínguez

In this Article, Judge Eduardo Ferrer Mac-Gregor of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and International Human Rights Researcher Pablo González Domínguez explore three of the richest and most contentious areas of the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights: death penalty cases, amnesty law, and cased regarding forced disappearance. These topics encompass some of the most pressing human rights issues in the Inter-American System. For each topic, Ferrer Mac-Gregor and González Domínguez provide a succinct but comprehensive view of the Inter-American Court's jurisprudence, discuss the ways in which the core principles of this jurisprudence have been applied in more recent cases and developed into a corpus juris, and provide concluding remarks about the continuous challenges facing both the Court and American states going forward.

The Relationship between Inter-American Jurisdiction and States (National Systems): Some Pertinent Questions

Sergio García Ramírez

In this Article, Judge Sergio García Ramírez of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights explores the complex and often vexing relationship between the Inter-American Human Rights system and the domestic human rights protections within the system's member states. García Ramírez identifies a number of challenges to implementing human rights protections in Latin America, many of which are rooted in a history of authoritarianism in the twentieth century and the nascent nature of the region's democratic institutions. Yet he sees solutions in the role of the Inter-American Court in the region. García Ramírez highlights the Court's role in interpreting international human rights laws for the region and the increasing role of national judges in integrating these rights into national systems. Thus, with this body of law as a baseline, he believes that through careful legal and political dialogue and a greater exercise of conventionality control, among other steps, the domestic and international human rights regimes in the region can work together to ensure greater respect for and protections of individual persons.

The Anglo-Latin Divide and the Future of the Inter-American System of Human Rights

Paolo Carozza

A former President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Paolo Carozza draws on his personal experience to identify and propose solutions for a key flaw in the Inter-American Human Rights System: the division between English-language member states and states with Latin-based languages. Terming this division "The Anglo-Latin Divide," Carozza traces the division not only to linguistic difference, but also to differences in legal traditions. He explains how the differences between Anglo tradition of common law and the Latin tradition of civil law manifest in both substantive and procedural divides within the Inter-American Human Rights system, including in sensitive areas of the law such as right-to-life cases. Carozza offers solutions for the future, ranging from changing the composition of the Inter-American Court and Commission to the radical solution of requiring universal ratification of the American Convention on Human Rights. Ultimately, Carozza concludes that, whatever the solution, the viability and strength of the Inter-American system requires a much stronger effort to integrate the English-speaking world into a Latin-dominated system.