Abstract

GARCIA RAMIREZ, Sergio. The Vulnerable Subjects in the “Transformative” Jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Cuest. Const. [online]. 2019, n.41, pp.3-34.  Epub Apr 22, 2020. ISSN 1405-9193.  https://doi.org/10.22201/iij.24484881e.2019.41.13940.

Since its establishment in 1979, the year in which the American Convention on Human Rights entered into force, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has produced a rich and noteworthy case law over the course of four decades. This case law comprises a significant number of judgments, advisory opinions and decisions on provisional measures and the enforcement of judgments. This article provides an overview of one of the most decisive and transcendent sectors of inter-American case law, which pertains to the rights and legal status of persons considered “vulnerable” on account of the situation of weakness, helplessness or marginalization in which they find themselves. The “vulnerable” group constitutes a substantial part of the population in the States under the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court. The author reviews the criteria adopted by the Court regarding various categories of vulnerable persons, referred to in various international instruments of universal or regional scope. In this sense, the Brasilia Regulations Regarding Access to Justice for Vulnerable People and the Santiago Protocol adopted by the Ibero-American Judicial Summit are very significant. The categories considered in this article are: women, children, indigenous people, people of African descent, people with disabilities, migrants, displaced people and people deprived of their liberty. To this list, other groups that have drawn the attention of the Court have recently been added: journalists, human rights defenders and members of the LGBTTI community. Inter-American case law on vulnerable persons has influenced the national incorporation of international human rights law in this geopolitical sphere.

Keywords : Inter-American Court; Case law; Judgments; Advisory opinions; Vulnerable persons; Women; Children; Indigenous peoples; People of African descent; Persons with disabilities; Migrants; Displaced persons; Persons deprived of their liberty; Journalists; Human Rights activists; LGBTTI.

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