The Inter-American Commission and Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Practice and procedure

Brief history:

The inter-American system for the protection of human rights emerged with the adoption of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man in April 1948 – the first international human rights instrument of a general nature, predating the UDHR by more than six months.

The IACHR was created in 1959. It held its first meeting in 1960, and it conducted its first on-site visit to inspect the human rights situation in the Dominican Republic in 1961. In 1965 the Commission was expressly authorized to examine specific cases of human rights violations. During its sessions, it hears from individuals and representatives from organizations on various claims of human rights abuses.

The Inter-American Commission is a quasi-judicial, quasi-political body established by the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights . It is based in Washington DC, USA. and is assisted by an Executive Secretary's Secretariat. It is composed of seven independent experts who are elected to four year terms by the OAS General Assembly. During its sessions, it hears from individuals and representatives from organizations on various claims of human rights abuses.

The main duty of the Commission on Human Rights is to hear and oversee petitions that have been made against a member state of the OAS claiming a human rights abuse.

The proceedings of the Commission are listed in the Commission's Statute and Regulations

Who may file a complaint?Article 44 ACHR: ‘Any person or group of persons, or any non-governmental entity legally recognized in one or more member states of the Organization, may lodge petitions with the Commission containing denunciations or complaints of violation of this Convention by a State Party.’

Admissionby the Commission of a petition or communication requires that ‘the remedies under domestic law have been pursued and exhausted in accordance with generally recognized principles of international law’. According to Article 46(2), this rule is not applicable ‘when: (a) the domestic legislation of the state concerned does not afford due process of law for the protection of the right or rights that have allegedly been violated; (b) the party alleging violation of his rights has been denied access to the remedies under domestic law or has been prevented from exhausting them; or (c) there has been unwarranted delay in rendering a final judgment under the aforementioned remedies.’Time period: Article 46 ACHR. The petition or communication must be lodged ‘within a period of six months from the date on which the party alleging violation of his rights was notified of the final judgment’.

The proceedings of the Commission are listed in the Commission's Statute and Regulations.

Inter-American Court of Human Rights

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is a part-time, non-permanent judicial body established by the American Convention on Human Rights. It is based in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Composition The Court is composed of seven judges:

National judges: Article 55 permits judges who are nationals of states parties to sit on cases involving their own countries Ad hoc judges: Article 55(3) ACHR and Article 18 Rules of Procedure

Who may file a complaint? Article 61(1) ACHR. Only a state party and the Inter-American Commission have the right to submit a case to the Court. Individuals may, however, submit cases to the Inter-American Commission (see below). In cases before the Court, alleged victims are allowed to participate in the proceedings submitting their pleadings, motions and evidence, autonomously, throughout the proceedings. They may also request the adoption of provisional measures (Articles 23 and 25 Rules of Procedure).

Admissibility Exhaustion of domestic remedies: Articles 46 and 47 ACHR. Admission by the Commission requires ‘that the remedies under domestic law have been pursued and exhausted in accordance with generally recognised principles of international law’. This rule shall not be applicable when ‘(a) the domestic legislation of the state concerned does not afford due process of law for the protection of the right or rights that have allegedly been violated; (b) the party alleging violation of his rights has been denied access to remedies under domestic law or has been prevented from exhausting them; or (c) there has been unwarranted delay in rendering a final judgment under the aforementioned remedies’. Time period: Article 46 ACHR. Admission by the Commission requires ‘that the petition or communication is lodged within a period of six months from the date on which the party alleging violation of his rights was notified of the final judgment’.

Proceedings are both written and oral.

The Court's jurisdiction is limited. It may only hear cases where the state involved has a). ratified the American Convention on Human Rights, b). has accepted the Court's optional jurisdiction (as of 1992, only 13 of 35 nations had signed this optional jurisdiction), c). the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has completed its investigation, and d). the case was referred to the Court either by the Commission or the state involved in the case within three months of the release of the Commission's report. An individual or a petitioner may not independently bring forth a case to be considered by the Court.

Date: 2015-12-18; view: 733