international and national legal systems are shown here in interaction, in the fight against
violations to the jus cogens.
155. We are standing before a humanized ordre public (or what is the same, a truly
humanistic one) where the public interest or the general interest coincides completely
with the prevalence of human rights,145 - which implies the acknowledgment that human
rights constitute the basic foundation, in themselves, of the legal system,146 at
international and national levels. Underlying the concept of jus cogens is the natural law
theory, which leads to peremptory regulations based on the affirmation and enshrinement
of ethical values that seek to benefit humanity as a whole.147
156. In what refers to the right to a fair trial, the fact that Articles 25 and 8 of the
American Convention are not included in the list of non-revocable rights of Article 27(2)
of the same is a problem that is more apparent than real. The abolitions would only be
possible if they were not compatible with the obligations imposed on the States by
International Law, as warned by Article 27(1) of the Convention; here the peremptory
nature of the right to a fair trial makes said lack of compatibility evident. The States
Parties to the Convention have here, in my opinion, obligations based on results.
157. It would be unconceivable to deny the right to a fair trial to any person. Here, we
can visualize a real right to Law, that is, the right to a legal system that effectively
safeguards the rights inherent to human beings.148 This is an imperative of the jus
Historical
Development,
Criteria,
Present
Status,
Helsinki,
Lakimiesliiton
Kustannus/Finnish Lawyers' Publ. Co., 1988, pp. 605-606 and 621, and cf. pp. 602-604
and 607-608.
.
Cf. E. de Wet, "The Prohibition of Torture as an International Norm of Jus Cogens
and Its Implications for National and Customary Law", 15 European Journal of
International Law (2004) pp. 98, 100, 105, 112, and 120-121.
144
.
In that sense, the emergence of a real jus commune of human rights in the
international realm has been suggested; cf. M. de Salvia, "L'élaboration d'un `jus
commune' des droits de l'homme et des libertés fondamentales dans la perspective de
l'unité européenne: l'oeuvre accomplie par la Commission et la Cour Européennes des
Droits de l'Homme", in Protection des droits de l'homme: la dimension européenne Mélanges en l'honneur de G.J. Wiarda (eds. F. Matscher y H. Petzold), 2a. ed.,
Köln/Berlin, C. Heymanns Verlag, 1990, pp. 555-563; G. Cohen-Jonathan, "Le rôle des
principes généraux dans l'interprétation et l'application de la Convention Européenne des
Droits de l'Homme", in Mélanges en hommage à L.E. Pettiti, Bruxelles, Bruylant, 1998,
pp. 168-169.
145
146
A.A. Cançado Trindade, O Esgotamento de Recursos Internos no Direito
Internacional, 2ª ed., Brasília, Edit. Universidad de Brasília, 1997, pp. 265-266.
.
Cf. M. Ragazzi, "Alexidze on Jus Cogens (Selected Considerations)", in Theory and
Practice of Contemporary International Law - Essays in Honour of Prof. L. Alexidze on the
80th Birthday Anniversary, Tbilisi, Inovatia, 2007, pp. 35 and 38.
147
.
This evolution, with the acknowledgment of the direct access of individuals to
international justice, currently reveals the advent of the new primacy of the reason of
humanity over the reason of the State, to inspire the historical process of humanization of
148
49