2
5.
It would be impossible, in addition to undesirable, taking into account the
ancillary or complementary nature of international jurisdiction, for it to receive a
large number of contentious cases on identical or very similar facts, to reiterate,
again and again, the criteria set forth in previous contentious cases. We must insist
that the States themselves, guarantors of the inter-American human rights system,
are at the same time essential components of this system, in which they participate
through a political and juridical will that is the best guaranty of the true effectiveness
of the international system for protection of human rights, based on the effectiveness
of the domestic system for protection of those rights.
6.
Therefore, in the logic of the system –and of the institutional aspirations of the
Inter-American Court, as a component of the system- there lies the idea that the
rulings of the Court must be reflected, in the manner and according to the terms set
forth in domestic Law -as the bridge between the international and the national
systems- in domestic legislation, in domestic jurisdictional criteria, in specific
programs in this field, and in the daily actions of the State regarding human rights;
they must, ultimately, be reflected in the national experience as a whole. This –a
power to influence, rebuild, guide, inform- is what explains and justifies, ultimately,
an international venue that does not have the possibility or the capacity to hear
thousands of cases of identical litigation, reproducing both reasoning and rulings that
have been set forth and reiterated previously.
II.
Patterns of violation
7.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has ruled on facts that constitute,
in a way, a traditional pattern of violation of rights. Recently, the Court has
addressed different themes, on the border between the so-called first generation and
second generation rights, or issues pertaining to the former that had not been
brought up before and that enable opening new areas of jurisdictional reflection,
which in turn propose new human rights frontiers in the Americas, in accordance with
the interpretation given by the Inter-American Court.
8.
Despite the gradual appearance of themes that are different from those
covered during the eighties and even during the nineties, in the broad set of cases
brought before the Court, some that are “traditional” in nature persist. Not only have
they not declined or disappeared, as would have been desirable and seemed natural,
but they have undertaken new expressions or have continued to be present, and this
constant presence expresses the need, which I referred to above, to review the state
of these issues under domestic venue to adjust it, without more ado, to international
standards. The international court does its part as best possible when it identifies the
major issues in the contentious cases that it hears or in the opinions that it issues
and generates the jurisdictional doctrine contained in its considerations. The following
stage must be carried out by the domestic venue, not only due to its legal
competence but –especially- due to the real ability that it has to encompass all the
problems that arise in the domestic sphere.
9.
Those international standards do, in fact, coincide to a very large extent, or
perhaps completely, from the standpoint of the legal provisions in force, with the
purpose and the mandates reflected in the supreme national legal orders, and even in
much of the secondary legislation.
Therefore, it is necessary for the political and
juridical will of the States to once and for all suppress the most frequently observed
violations and usher in the new stages of protection of fundamental rights.
Otherwise, we will continue to face the same facts that abridge those rights, arguing
the same points and issuing the same opinions or rulings, without this penetrating
our nations’ life as deeply as it should.
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents