Transcript Diapositiva 1

Advocacy before the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights
Charles Abbott
Staff Attorney, CEJIL
[email protected]
CEJIL
• Impact litigation before the InterAmerican Human Rights System
• Empowering human rights defenders
• Strengthening IAS
www.cejil.org
Video:
http://www.ijrcenter.org/ihr-reading-room/regional/interamerican-system/
What is the IACHR?
• Principle, autonomous human rights body with
jurisdiction over OAS Member States.
• Instruments:
– OAS Charter
– American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man
– American Convention on Human Rights, etc.
• Functions: Promote respect for and defense of human rights
What does the IACHR do?
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Individual Petitions
Precautionary Measures
Public Hearings (case-specific or thematic)
Reports
On-site visits
Rapporteurs
Press Releases and Declarations
Monitoring Implementation
Ratifications and Jurisdiction
Have not ratified
the ACHR
Ratified the ACHR,
but did not accept
the jurisdiction of
the I-A Court
Ratified the ACHR
and accepted the
jurisdiction of the
I-A Court
United States
Dominica
Mexico
Canada
Grenada
Colombia
Cuba*
Jamaica
Brazil
Argentina
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Current Commisioners:
1) Felipe González
(2008-2015)
2) Rosa Maria Ortiz
(2012-2015)
3) James Cavallaro
(2014-2017)
4) Paolo Vannuchi
(2014-2017)
5) Rose-Marie Belle Antoine
(2012-2015)
6) José de Jesús Orozco
(2010-2017)
7) Tracy Robinson
(2012-2015)
Inter-American System
Mechanisms for the Protection of Human Rights
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Contentious Jurisdiction
Reports
Other Tools
Individual Complaints
Country Reports
Precautionary Measures
Follow up Reports
Recommendations
Advisory Services
Statements
Hearings
Rapporteurs
On-site visits
Thematic Reports
CEJIL
IACHR Rapporteurships
• Established in response to the IACHR’s specific
interest in certain populations, vulnerable groups
or human rights issues.
• Their main role is to support the IACHR in cases
in progress, as well as in the preparation of
reports and monitoring of situations.
Inter-American Commission
Members’ Responsibilities
•
Thematic Rapporteurs on the Rights of:
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Women
Persons deprived of liberty
Migrant workers and their families
Children
Indigenous peoples
Afro-descendants
Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression
Human Rights Defenders
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Country Rapporteurs
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LGBTI Unit
CEJIL
Jurisdiction
• Ratione materiae
– Scope of rights protected
• Ratione personae
– Active legitimation (who can file)
– Passive legitimation (against who)
• Ratione temporis
• Ratione loci: State jurisdiction
Admissibility
• Six-month rule
• Exhaustion of domestic remedies
• Litis pendence
Rule of Exhaustion of Domestic Remedies
• Rationale:
– complementary character of international protection
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Criteria for Interpreting this Rule:
– should not lead to a halt or delay that would render
international action in support of the defenseless
victim ineffective
– effete utile
CEJIL
Rule of Exhaustion of Domestic Remedies
 Requirements of Domestic Remedies:
– judicial
– ordinary
– adequate: suitable to address the infringement of a legal right
• not all remedies applicable in every instance
• if a remedy is not adequate in a specific case, it need not be
exhausted
– effective: capable of producing the result for which the remedies were
intended
• a remedy is NOT effective if:
– it is powerless to compel authorities
– it presents danger to those who invoke it
– it is not impartially applied
CEJIL
Exceptions to the Exhaustion of Domestic Remedies:
IACHR Rules of Procedure - Art. 31(2)
• Domestic legislation does not afford due process of law
• Party alleging violation has been denied access to the
remedies under domestic law or has been prevented
from exhausting them
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Unwarranted delay
CEJIL
Admissibility
• Determining a State’s international responsibility for
violation of a person’s human rights allows for broad
evidentiary standards in accordance with the rules of
logic and on the basis of experience:
– direct evidence (testimonial, documental, etc.) and
– circumstantial evidence (indicia, presumptions,
etc.) so long as it is possible to infer conclusions
consistent with the facts
CEJIL
How might you speed up a case?
IACHR Rules Art. 29
The petition shall be studied in the order it was received;
however, the Commission may expedite the evaluation of a
petition in situations such as the following:
• a. when the passage of time would deprive the petition of its
effectiveness, in particular:
– i. when the alleged victim is an older person or a child;
– ii. when the alleged victim is terminally ill;
– iii. when it is alleged that the death penalty could be applied to the
presumed victim; or
– iv. when the object of the petition is connected to a precautionary or
provisional measure in effect
CEJIL
Registry and
beginning of
the case
ADMISSIBILITY
PROCEDURE
Petition
Transfer to the
State and State’s
Answer
Optional Request for
Additional Information
Report on
Admissibility
IACHR
Report on
Inadmissibility
PROCEDURE ON
THE MERITS (IACHR)
Petitioner’s
Brief on the
Merits
State
Responds
Hearing
Transfer to
Petitioners
Additional
Information
Notification
of
Compliance
Deadline to
State and
Petitioner
Decision
on the
merits
(art. 43)
Precautionary Measures
Requirements
IACHR Rules of Procedure - Art. 25
• Commission may issue precautionary measures when:
– serious and urgent case
– necessary to avoid irreparable harm, and
– denounced facts are credible
• Request for such measures and their adoption shall not
prejudice final decision
• Don’t need to exhaust all domestic remedies (but need
to prove domestic action or justify inaction)
CEJIL
Positive Outcomes from
International Human Rights Litigation
• Involve Member States in a dialogue
• Create spaces for coordination / movement-building
• Provide redress to victims and/or family members
• Create awareness of an issue
• Change patterns and practices
• Create additional guarantees against non-repetition
• Give legitimacy to a claim
• Change domestic laws, constitutions
• Prosecution and/or punishment of perpetrators
• Protect persons in danger
Challenges
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Representation
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Backlog
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Costs
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Implementation of Judgments
Thank you!