2
for so-called “obligations of individuals” deriving from acts or measures which, in the
Court’s opinion, violate the Convention. The decisions of the Inter-American Court
would also have repercussions on “the rights of individuals” if they recognized certain
juridical consequences in their favor, owing to the violations that had been
committed: for example, the right to reparations. Moreover, it is not clear what is
meant by indicating that the judgments of the Court may not establish “existing right
or obligations” of certain individuals.
7.
In brief, based on the foregoing – which expands the reasoning on which the
Court’s judgments in the cases referred to in this opinion are based – it is not
possible to recognize the validity of the declaration formulated by the State in the
ratification instrument of May 28, 1991, and use it as grounds for the preliminary
objection that has been raised.
8.
In the judgments delivered in these three cases, the Inter-American Court has
referred exclusively to the objection filed by Trinidad and Tobago and, consequently,
has examined the characteristics of the declaration on which the State seeks to base
itself, in the context of these cases. The issue of reservations and declarations that
limit the jurisdictional exercise of the Court in general, and which are usually
presented in different terms, is a separate matter. This does not negate the
desirability of eliminating reservations and conditions that ultimately signify
restrictions of a greater or lesser extent to the full exercise of such rights, in honor of
the universality of human rights, a conviction that is common to the States that have
contributed to constructing the corresponding inter-American system.
Sergio García-Ramírez
Judge
Manuel E. Ventura-Robles
Secretary