And this, without being limited by Article 19(6) 25 of the Protocol of San Salvador, which
merely refers to the justiciability of certain trade union rights and the right to education,
whereas it is Article 26 of the American Convention itself that accords this possibility, as we
shall see below.
7.
Evidently, this position requires further scrutiny of the interpretation of the interAmerican normative as a whole and, particularly, of Article 26 of the Pact of San José, which
establishes “the full effectiveness” of economic, social and cultural rights, without the
elements of “progressiveness” and of “available resources” to which this article refers
constituting conditioning normative elements for the justiciability of the said rights; rather,
in any case, they constitute aspects relating to their implementation in keeping with the
specific circumstances of each State. Indeed, as indicated in the case of Acevedo Buendía,
cases may arise in which judicial control is focused on alleged regressive measures or on
inadequate management of the available resources (in other words, judicial control in
relation to progressive development).
8.
Furthermore, this line of argument requires a progressive vision and interpretation,
in keeping with the times, which requires considering the progress made in comparative law
– especially that of the highest national jurisdictions of the States Parties, and even the
tendencies in other parts of the world – as well as an interpretation that analyzes the interAmerican corpus juris as a whole, especially the relationship between the American
Convention and the Protocol of San Salvador.
9.
This is why, under Article 66(2) of the American Convention, 26 and based on the
elements deliberated on and discussed with my esteemed colleagues, I feel the need to add
to the Judgment my concurring individual opinion on some of the important implications
that this matter has in direct and autonomous relationship to the right to health in cases of
medical malpractice. This was the central issue of the facts of the case, which, ultimately,
focused on the merits of the matter to declare the international responsibility of the State
concerned with regard to other civil rights recognized in the Pact of San José.
10.
The intention of this separate opinion is to encourage further thought on the
necessary evolution that, in my opinion, should take place in inter-American case law
towards the full normative effectiveness of Article 26 of the Pact of San José, thereby
granting transparency and real protection to economic, social and cultural rights, which
requires accepting their direct justiciability and, if appropriate — as in the case of civil and
political rights — eventually being able to declare the autonomous violation of those rights,
in relation to the general obligations established in Articles 1 and 2 of the American
Convention when the circumstances of a specific case require this.
used the contents of the national Constitutions to grant certain contents to civil rights; for example “in application
of Article 29 of the Convention, the provisions of article 44 of the Constitution of the Republic of Colombia should
be considered” (fundamental rights of the child). Case of the “Mapiripán Massacre,” supra, para. 153.
25
Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the area of Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights: “Article 19. Measures of protection. 6. Any instance in which the rights established in paragraph (a) of Article
8 and in Article 13 are violated by action directly attributable to a State Party to this Protocol may give rise,
through participation of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and, when applicable, of the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights, to application of the system of individual petitions governed by Article 44
through 51 and 61 through 69 of the American Convention on Human Rights.”
26
Article 66(2) of the American Convention establishes: “If the judgment does not represent in whole or in
part the unanimous opinion of the judges, any judge shall be entitled to have his dissenting or separate opinion
attached to the judgment. Also, see Articles 24(3) of the Statute of the Inter-American Court and 32(1)(a), 65(2)
and 67(4) of its Rules of Procedure.
5
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