Regional Human Rights Governance: The Case of the Inter-American Human Rights System

Abstract

The Inter-American Human Rights System (IAHRS) has over time developed into a normatively intrusive regime with a far-reaching mandate to regulate domestic political norms and practices of regional states in the Americas. The system has emerged, from its roots as a quasi-judicial entity with an ill-defined mandate to promote respect for human rights in the region, as a legal regime formally empowering citizens to bring suit to challenge the domestic activities of their own government. An independent court and commission are invested with the mandate to respond to individual claims by judging whether the application of domestic rules or legislation violates international commitments. The access of individuals to the human rights regime has strengthened over time as the system has evolved into a judicial regime with a procedural focus on the force of legal argumentation and the generation of regional human rights jurisprudence. This memo will seek to address some of the central concerns of the workshop by outlining how the case of the Inter-American Human Rights System sheds light on the dynamics of regional human rights governance.

Keywords: human rights, Inter-American Human Rights System, regionalism, governance, Latin America