LASA Session on IAHRS Impact

Later this month, several members of the IAHRN will participate in an academic discussion to evaluate the impact of the Inter-American Human Rights System. The session forms part of this year’s Latin American Studies Association (LASA) conference, to be held in Puerto Rico, and will take place between 10am and 11.45am on Saturday 30th May.

One of those due to present at the session is Dr. Natalia Saltalamacchia Ziccardi, IAHRN member and researcher at Mexico’s Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México. Her presentation will focus on the conclusions of extensive new primary research into the scope and effectiveness of the system’s friendly settlement mechanism.

Supporters of this mechanism have often argued that it represents a way to obtain faster and more cost efficient resolution of cases than that available via the system’s traditional litigation procedure. Dr Saltalamacchia’s statistical analysis of IAHRS data suggests that this assertion is, in reality, not entirely accurate, and that friendly settlement procedures are generally just as lengthy as the alternative.

However, the research also indicates that agreements obtained through this mechanism can have greater impact, in some cases, than that which may be achieved via IACtHR rulings. One notable example in this regard is the better record of state compliance with reparation pledges made in friendly settlements, than for those ordered by court edict.

The research presented in this paper will later form the basis of a chapter in a scholarly volume on the impact of the inter-American system, currently being produced by IAHRN members.

To access a copy of Dr. Saltalamacchia’s presentation please click here [Spanish only].