DISSENTING OPINION OF JUDGE EDUARDO VIO GROSSI
PROVISIONAL MEASURES REGARDING HONDURAS
CASE OF KAWAS FERNÁNDEZ
The present dissenting opinion concerns the aforementioned order, in view of the
fact that by issuing the judgment on merits in proceedings, a preclusion took effect
regarding the authority of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, hereinafter
"the Court," to enact new provisional measures in the case, having ceased,
furthermore, the previously ordered measures, however, its object and effects were
undertaken in the aforementioned judgment.
Introduction
The conventional rule applicable in the present case is Article 63(2) of the American
Convention on Human Rights, hereinafter "the Convention," which states:
"[i]n cases of extreme gravity and urgency, and when necessary to avoid irreparable
damage to persons, the Court shall adopt such provisional measures as it deems
pertinent in matters it has under consideration. With respect to a case not yet
submitted to the Court, it may act at the request of the Commission."
Considering jurisprudence is the "subsidiary means for the determination of rules of
law,"1 it is thus the responsibility of the Court to define the meaning and scope of
the provisions provided for in the abovementioned treaty, i.e., to interpret it "in
good faith in accordance with the ordinary meaning to be given to the terms of the
treaty in their context and in the light of its object and purpose,"2 and, therefore,
seeking the will of the States that created it, all considering, furthermore, that the
greatest guarantee of protection that the Court should grant in accordance with its
role in delivering justice in human rights is the unconditional respect for the rules
that govern it.
I. - Provisional measures and a contentious case.
In this perspective, it states that the cited rule must be understood in the sense
that the Court can only order provisional measures in matters it has under its
consideration or regarding issues for which the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights, hereinafter "the Commission," requested such measures, even if
1
Article 38(1)(d) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice.
2
Article 31(1) of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.