IAHRN Holds Comparative Workshop on Human Rights Systems

On 29th and 30th January 2016, the Leverhulme-funded Inter-American Human Rights Network held its third workshop at the Human Rights Centre of Ghent University in Belgium.

Following two earlier events in Mexico City and London, which respectively examined the impact and institutional development of the Inter-American Human Rights System (IAHRS), this third workshop looked more broadly at regional human rights mechanisms in comparative perspective.

Approximately 40 assembled network members and specially invited guests discussed the positive and negative effects of the UN and the European, Inter-American and African human rights systems. The distinguished participants in the workshop included scholars from all three regions, together with serving and former officials from human rights systems, independent lawyers and civil society litigators.

A diverse range of presentations covered topics including: experiences of implementing of human rights rulings; the protections offered to vulnerable groups by regional systems; the political context and its impact on human rights decisions; case studies of the treatment of women’s rights by the different mechanisms; and the tools for improving compliance levels. (The full programme is available here.)

Over the coming weeks, the IAHRN will produce a summary of the principal findings from the workshop. This will be followed by a policy briefing, featuring suggestions and recommendations on what the various regional systems can learn from each other and how to maximise their future impact.

Summaries and policy briefings from the IAHRN’s previous two workshops can be accessed via the following links:

Institutional Development of the IAHRS: Workshop Summary; Policy Briefing