The orders of the Interamerican Human Rights Court and the Judicial Power of the States

Abstract

With States’ acceptance of the Interamerican Human Rights Court jurisdiction comes together the problem of enforcement of its judgments in domestic courts. The San Jose de Costa Rica Pact does establish means to enforce pecuniary obligations. However, there are no rules about the enforcement of the other kinds of obligation, as moral reparations. This article aims to show the variety of orders contained in Courts’ judgments to demonstrate the obstacles to their judicial enforcement when States do not abide to them. The first part introduces the general categories of State Responsibility and use them to classify the orders found in the last 21 judgments of the Court issued between 2008 and 2009. The second part is dedicated to the role of domestic judicial powers in the process of enforcing those orders, separating those imposing obligations on the Judiciary itself and those that demand governmental or legislative actions. The third part evaluates ways to regulate the enforcement procedures internally and internationally, going beyond the supervision procedure created by the Pact. Additionally, Brazilian and Colombian experiences in this regard are compared.