4 B. Regarding the function of the Court. 10. The first point to make in this regard is that the Court must fulfill its mission within the institutional legal framework of the Convention.17 This is important, since the latter is an instrument of public international law and therefore, within its framework, the Court must exercise its contentious jurisdiction and issue rulings,18 or, by reason of its advisory or non-contentious jurisdiction, issue its opinions.19 Although it may seem an obvious statement, the Court is, therefore, prohibited from basing its mandate on the domestic laws of the States, which in turn are governed by conventional and customary rules that prohibit them from invoking provisions of their domestic laws to avoid complying with an international obligation20 and 21. This applies, except in cases where various domestic legal systems converge to express either an international custom, that is, they reflect a common, consistent and concordant practice, followed with the conviction of acting according to law, or a general principle of law that is common to all, is recognized as such and is applicable in situations governed by international law. Under such hypotheses, the Court’s ruling is not, or would not be, issued in line with the domestic laws of the States, but would abide by the custom or general principle of law, based on sources of public international law.22 The use of comparative law helps in that regard. 11. However, the foregoing certainly does not imply that the Court should not or cannot analyze the provisions of the domestic laws of the State in question, in order to determine whether any act attributable to that State entails international responsibility.23 In such eventuality, the respective Convention for consideration by the States Parties at the General Assembly with a view to gradually including other rights and freedoms within its system of protection.” Article 33: “The following organs shall have competence with respect to matters relating to the fulfillment of the commitments made by the States Parties to this Convention: a) the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, referred to as "The Commission;" and b) the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, referred to as "The Court." Article 65: “To each regular session of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States the Court shall submit, for the Assembly's consideration, a report on its work during the previous year. It shall specify, in particular, the cases in which a state has not complied with its judgments, making any pertinent recommendations.” 17 18 Footnote 12. Article 64(1):“The member states of the Organization may consult the Court regarding the interpretation of this Convention or of other treaties concerning the protection of human rights in the American states. Within their spheres of competence, the organs listed in Chapter X of the Charter of the Organization of American States, as amended by the Protocol of Buenos Aires, may in like manner consult the Court. (2) The Court, at the request of a member state of the Organization, may provide that state with opinions regarding the compatibility of any of its domestic laws with the aforesaid international instruments.” 19 20 Article 27 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties: “Internal law and observance of treaties. A party may not invoke the provisions of its internal law as justification for its failure to perform a treaty. This rule is without prejudice to article 46.” 21 22 Hereinafter, the Vienna Convention. Footnote 15. Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, adopted by the International Law Commission at its fifty-third session (A/56/10) and annexed by the GA in Resolution 56/83, of December 12, 2001. Article 1: “Responsibility of a State for its internationally wrongful acts. Every internationally wrongful act of a State entails the international responsibility of that State.” 23 Article 2: “Elements of an internationally wrongful act of a State. There is an internationally wrongful act of a State when conduct consisting of an action or omission: