The American Convention on Human Rights, 3rd edition: Crucial Rights and Their Theory and Practice

The American Convention on Human Rights contains an in-depth analysis of and comment on crucial rights protected under the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR) in the light of the decisions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR). In the first years of its existence (1979-2003), violations of the core rights - namely the right to life, the right to personal freedom, the right to personal integrity, the right to due process and the right to a judicial remedy - formed the majority of complaints before the Court at a time when many of the contracting States had either just left, or were still immersed in a dictatorship and were only just attempting to introduce the idea of human rights in a democratic society into their own legal systems. This fully revised and updated third edition now also covers the IACtHRs steps towards maturity (2004-2020) and another crucial right is added to the books chapters, namely, the right to equality and non-discrimination. Due to the political and social changes in the region, the Court, since 2003, has had to examine and consider a greater variety of rights, such as freedom of speech, structural discrimination and the lack of proper protection of the human rights of women and LGBTI people. The human rights of Indigenous peoples have also come to the Courts attention, due to the lack of judicial protection of their rights, which leads to State responsibility by omission. Most of these issues were discussed in the second edition of this book, which covered the Courts case law until 2014; since then, however, important developments have taken place. These include a richer jurisprudence on equality and non-discrimination, covering intersectionality, racial profiling and sexual abuse as well as a more nuanced analysis of harmful stereotypes. Furthermore, since 2017 the Court has asserted its competence to adjudicate social, economic, cultural and environmental rights. The increasing number of social protests, the rise of new forms of authoritarianism, land conflicts as well as internal and cross-border displacement over the last few years, have also shaped the Courts interpretation of proportionality, use of force and the rights to life, humane treatment, personal liberty and progressive development. While systematic and gross violations of human rights continue to be part of the Courts work, their treatment has become more refined, leading to more precise and effective responses.Taking into consideration these changes, this edition not only includes a new chapter on equality and non-discrimination, it also dedicates greater attention to developments in the manner in which the Court understands its own functions and interacts with national authorities, such as the limits of its contentious jurisdiction and the idea of the conventionality control. In addition, the first chapter provides a critical review of key shifts in the Courts interpretation, such as those concerning the notion of rights holders and the adjudication on social, economic, cultural and environmental rights. The chapter on the right to humane treatment, for its part, presents a more specific gender analysis, with a focus on gender-based violence. The American Convention on Human Rights is a scholarly yet practical book on a dynamic human rights system that is striving to consolidate itself. It is a useful tool for practitioners to support their work and for academics in their teaching of the Inter-American System.