New GlobaLex Research Guide on Inter-American System of Human Rights: A Research Guide

GlobaLex, the electronic research collection maintained by the Hauser Global Law School Program at the New York University School of Law, has just published a new guide entitled The Inter-American System of Human Rights: A Research Guide:

"The objective of this guide is to provide the researcher with a brief understanding of the historical development of the Inter-American system of human rights and of its resulting complexity. It is not purported to comment extensively on the Inter-American case law; rather it discusses the most salient institutional features of the system and it then directs the reader to a variety of sources on the system’s law in action."

"The guide summarizes the events and debates that led to the adoption of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man by the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1948 and to the negotiation and subsequent entry into force of the American Convention on Human Rights in 1978. It then introduces the reader to a brief discussion of the content of less-known regional human rights treaties associated to the American Convention."

"In turn, the guide discusses the composition, competence as well as selected provisions of the rules of procedure of the two monitoring bodies of the Inter-American system of human rights: the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, a principal organ of the OAS, whose headquarters are in Washington D.C., U.S.A., and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, created by the American Convention and whose headquarters are in San Jose, Costa Rica. The guide also offers a glimpse into the activities performed and the case law delivered by both the Commission and the Court in 2009 through a summary of their latest Annual Reports. Finally, in the spirit of the Globalex project, the guide directs the reader to additional sources of information."