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Glossary of terms in the inter-American human rights system | Useful contacts and links
What is the Inter-American Court of Human Rights?
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is one of two bodies established by the Organisation of American States to monitor human rights in the Americas. The other is the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The Court was created by Article 33b of the American Convention on Human Rights to safeguard the rights enshrined in the Convention.
The Court, which is based in San José, Costa Rica, was established in 1979. It is made up of seven judges who are elected as independent experts for a term of six years. They may be re-elected once.
What are the powers and functions of the Court?
The role of the Court is twofold:
The Court interprets the articles of the American Convention and other international human rights instruments to give more in-depth guidance about the provisions of the articles and how States might implement them. This is its consultative work.
The Court’s contentious function allows it to make decisions, take protective measures and issue sentences on cases of individual violations of human rights as well as inter-State violations of human rights. However, the Court can only do this in cases where the State concerned has already said it would allow the Court to rule on such cases. Where the State concerned has not accepted the Court’s jurisdiction, the case can only be brought before the Inter-American Commission. If the State has not ratified the American Convention, the Commission will apply the American Declaration of Human Rights.
A State may accept the contentious jurisdiction of the Court, which mean it agrees the court can rule on such cases, when it ratifies the American Declaration, at a later date, or on an ad hoc basis for a particular case. The declaration of acceptance may be unconditional, conditional, for a specific case, or for a limited time period.
List of States which have accepted the Court’s contentious jurisdiction (link).
Q&A on child rights and the inter-American system
What provisions are there in the Inter-American System for protecting and promoting children and young people's rights?
There is no single instrument that deals specifically with children’s rights in the Inter-American System. However, other instruments can be invoked to report violations of children’s rights and to seek reparations for these.
Which other instruments can be invoked to protect and promote children’s rights in the Inter-American System?
- American Declaration on Human Rights - Articles 7, 30, 31
- The Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence Against Women - Articles 8 and 9;
More information about these is available from the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) at http://www.cejil.org
What does the American Convention say about children’s rights?
Article 19 of the American Convention stresses that children have the right to special protection from the State, does not stipulate which rights children are entitled to or how these should be upheld. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) spells out in more detail what rights children are entitled to and how these should be guaranteed. The Additional Protocol to the American Convention adds that every child has the right to grow up under parental protection and may be separated from his/her mother only in exceptional circumstances. It also enshrines that right of every child to primary education.
Can individual violations of children’s rights be reported to the Inter-American System?
Yes, unlike the UNCRC, the American Convention includes provisions for reporting individual cases in which children’s rights have been breached. Such cases have helped to establish precedents for protecting children’s rights in many countries in the region and States have been ordered to pay compensation to the victims and to make changes to their legislation.
What kinds of cases have been brought before the Inter-American Court?
The first ever case involving a violation of children’s rights to be heard by the Inter-American Court was that of five street children who were murdered by police officers in Guatemala in June 1990. The case, which is known as “Bosques San Nicolás,” was brought before the Court by Casa Alianza and CEJIL. In 1999 the Court found the State of Guatemala guilty of violating Article 4 of the American Convention on Human Rights which enshrines the right to life. The State was ordered to build a school with a plaque in memory of the victims, pay compensation to the victims’ families, investigate the facts of the case and identify and sanction those responsible, and adapt its domestic legislation in accordance with Article 19 of the American Convention. Read more information about this case below.
Some of the other cases to come before the Court and establish important precedents include:
- extra-judicial executions of street children in Guatemala (Villagrán Morales and others v. Guatemala)
- the conditions of detention facilities for children in Paraguay (Instituto de Reeducación del Menor v. Paraguay)
- discrimination on the basis of nationality in the Dominican Republic (The Yean and Bosico Girls v. Dominican Republic)
Read more below under Decisions
How can I submit a complaint to the Court?
Only the Inter-American Commission and States Parties to the American Convention may submit complaints directly to the Court (according to Article 61.1 of the American Convention). If you are an individual, group or organisation, you must submit complaints to the Inter-American Commission; if the complaint meets certain requirements, the Commission will refer the case to the Court. More information about submitting a complaint.
How can civil society influence the Court's work?
Civil society organisations cannot present cases directly to the Inter-American Court; they must submit allegations of human rights violations to the Inter-American Commission. If the Commission determines the case ‘admissible’, it will refer it to the Court. Read about how to submit a complaint to the Commission here:
A civil society organisation may try and obtain ‘provisional measures’, which are orders issued by the Court which protect a victim or other party while a case is being processed. This term is explained in more detail below. The organisation can only request these measures directly from the Court if the case has already been passed to the Court by the Commission. If the case is not known to the Court, the organisation must approach the Commission to issue ‘precautionary measures’.
The only way civil society organisations can influence the Court’s consultative function – that is its work in interpreting the American Convention and other international human rights instruments – is by presenting third party written statements (or amicus curiae) on a particular theme under investigation. The Court, however, does not have to take these statements into account.
Advisory opinions
The Inter-American Court can, if asked by the Commission or by a State party to the American Convention, issue Advisory Opinions. These Opinions are a way for the Court to give its interpretation of particular aspects of the Convention.
To date, the Court has issued one Advisory Opinion on Child Rights:
At a hearing in Washington in October 2005, a delegation led by Save the Children Sweden and the Andean Commission of Jurists urged the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to declare all corporal punishment of children a breach of their human rights. They also asked the Inter-American Court to issue an Advisory Opinion on Corporal Punishment. This Advisory Opinion is still pending with the Commission.
Read about the hearing
Provisional measures
The Court can order a State to take ‘provisional measures’ to protect victims of human rights violations, witnesses, family members of the victim, or others from immediate or serious harm while a case is being processed. The Court monitors compliance with provisional measures, ordering the State to report within a specified time frame on the steps it has taken to comply with the order. Provisional measures can only be requested if the Court is already aware of the case, otherwise petitioners must seek precautionary measures from the Commission.
An example of provisional measures ordered by the Court is that of children and young people detained in the “Complexo do Tatuapé” of FEBEM (the State prison system) in Brazil in November 2005.
The “Complexo do Tatuapé” holds approximately 1,600 children and young people. In 2004, 28 riots broke out in different units of the complex, while 15 erupted in the first five months of 2005. The Inter-American Commission received information suggesting the causes of the riots, some of which were violent, had not been investigated. Escape attempts, poor conditions of detention and mistreatment were among those factors thought to have sparked the unrest. On 8 October 2005, the IACHR askedthe Court to order the Brazilian State to take provisional measures protecting the life and physical integrity of the children and young people detained in the complex.
The Court ordered provisional measures to: reduce overcrowding; seize weapons possessed by young inmates; provide necessary medical attention; carry out periodic supervision of the detention conditions, and the physical and emotional state of the detainees; plan protection measures with the participation of the young people affected; forward an updated list of all young inmates in the Complex with information about their identity, date and time of entrance, eventual transfer and liberation, etc; and report on provisional measures adopted every two months.
Decisions
Street Children (Villagrán Morales and Others) vs. Guatemala (11 September 1997. Serie C No. 32)
The first ever case involving a violation of children’s rights to be heard by the Inter-American Court was that of five street children who were murdered by police officers in June 1990. Four were kidnapped, tortured, and shot dead by State officials. The fifth was shot in the street by the same officials.
The case, which is known as “Bosques San Nicolás,” was brought before the Court by Casa Alianza and CEJIL after two years of trying to have the case dealt with in Guatemala. In 1999 the Court found the State of Guatemala guilty of violating the following rights enshrined in the American Convention: the right to life, physical integrity, personal freedom, judicial guarantees, judicial protection and the rights of the child (Articles 4, 5, 7, 8, 25, 19 and 1.1 respectively).
On 26 May 2001, the Court ordered the State of Guatemala to:
- build a school with a plaque in memory of the victims;
- pay compensation to the victims’ families;
- investigate the facts of the case and identify and sanction those responsible; and
- change its domestic legislation in accordance with Article 19 of the American Convention.
The State of Guatemala adopted these measures in the following months. On 19 December 2001 it paid compensation to the victims’ families. It also established an educational centre with a plaque dedicated to the memory of the five boys. The ‘Minors Code’ which had been in force since 1979 was abolished, and the national Congress passed a new ‘Code for Children and Young People’ which would enter into force one year later. However, as a result of various delays, the law did not enter into force on time. Finally, and thanks to pressure from civil society, on 4 June 2003, the Law of Integral Protection of Children and Young People was passed.
What was the wider impact of the case?
- The case signalled an important change towards protecting children and young people’s rights; not just from a legal perspective, but also from a social, political and economic point of view.
- the case interpreted Article 19 of the American Convention in light of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international instruments.
- The Court found that the State of Guatemala had violated its obligations established under Article 19 of the American Convention. This extended its jurisdiction, or reach, to cover breaches of economic, social and cultural rights which are widely ignored in most States in the Americas. The Court recognised that “both the American Convention and the Convention on the Rights of the Child form part of a very comprehensive body of international law for protecting children and that it must serve the Court to determine the content and extent of the general provision made in Article 19 of the American Convention.”
- The Court adopted the definition of a ‘child’, established in international human rights law, as someone under 18-years-old. The Court recognised the importance of a State Party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child condoning systematic violence against children ‘at risk’ within its territory. It went further, saying that when a State violates the rights of children ‘at risk’, such as children who live on the street, their rights become violated twice: firstly, because the State has not protected them from poverty and has deprived them of minimum standards of living, impeding the “full and harmonious development of their personality…”. Secondly, the State has violated their physical, psychological and moral integrity, and even their life.
- The Court, referring to the criminal record of one of the victims in particular, declared that the State had acted “in contravention” of its obligation to “intervene in the crimes committed by a minor [and consequently] […] make efforts to guarantee his rehabilitation to allow them to play a constructive and productive role in society.
[extracted and translated from Construyendo los Derechos de los Niños en las Américas-Segunda edición, a publication by CEJIL and Save the Children Suecia - Regional Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean]
Useful links and contacts
Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Apartado Postal 6906-1000, San José, Costa Rica
Teléfono: (506) 234 0581; Fax: (506) 234 0584
Email:
corteidh@corteidh.or.cr
Website: http://www.corteidh.or.cr
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
1889 F Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., U.S.A
Tel: +1 202 458 6002
Email: cidhoea@oas.org
Website: http://www.cidh.org
For more information about children’s rights in the Americas, contact:
The Inter-American Children’s Institute
Av. 8 de Octubre 2904, Casilla de Correo 16212, Montevideo (11600), Uruguay
Tel: +598 (2) 487 2150; Fax: +598 (2) 487 3242
Email: iin@oas.org
Website: http://www.iin.oea.org
For more information about the Inter-American Commission and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, contact:
The Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL)
Contact in Washington, D.C.: Victoria Amato
Communications Officer
1630 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 401, Washington, D.C. 20009, U.S.A
Tel: +1 202 319 3000; Fax: +1 202 319 3019
Email: vamato@cejil.org
Website: http://www.cejil.org
Contact in Costa Rica: Nancy Marín Espinoza
PO Box 441 2010 San José, Costa Rica
Tel: +506 280 7473/ 7608; +506 280 5280
Email: nmarin@cejil.org
Website: http://www.cejil.org/main.cfm
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