Table of Contents

Preface Acknowledgements Table of cases List of abbreviations Chapter 1. General Legal Framework 1.The American Convention on Human Rights 2. Interpretation of provisions that establish human rights 3. State obligations in the American Convention 3.1. Considerations of the term " jurisdiction" 3.2. Obligations of federal States 3.3. Obligations to respect and guarantee 3.4. Obligation to take measures 3.5. Obligation to cooperate 4. Attribution of State responsibility 5. Protected rights 6. Restrictions 7. Temporary suspension of obligations 7.1. Grounds for authorizing suspension 7.2. Obligations not susceptible to suspension 7.3. Proportionality of measures of suspension 7.4. Prohibition on affecting obligations not subject to suspension in other international law 7.5. Prohibition on discrimination 7.6. Notification of other States Parties and international oversight Chapter 2. Right to Life 1. Introduction 2. Right to life: a right, or also an obligation? 3. Protection of life from the moment of conception 4. Scope and forms of protection 4.1. The death penalty 4.2. Protection through preventative measures 4.3. Protection through supervision of compliance with preventative regulation 4.3.1. Obligation to investigate, try and punish 4.3.2. Impunity 4.3.3. Situations in which an obligation applies 4.3.4. Identification of the rights violated and entitlement to demand compliance with the obligation 4.3.5. Nature of the obligation to investigate, try and punish 4.4. Obligation to provide reparations 5. Other aspects of the right to life 6. Disappearances and the right to life Chapter 3. Right to Humane Treatment 1. Introduction 2. Different kinds of prohibited conduct 3. Prohibited conduct in the case law of the Inter-American Court 3.1. Concepts and elements of differentiation 3.2. Prohibited conduct and the right to life 3.3. Prohibited conduct and personal freedom 3.4. Prohibited conduct and relatives of certain human rights victims 3.5. Summary 4. The Inter-American Convention on Torture and the Court 4.1. The Inter-American Convention on Torture 4.2. Application of this Convention by the Inter-American Court 5. Scope and content of protection from prohibited conduct 5.1. Protection through preventative measures 5.2. Protection through monitoring compliance: the obligation to investigate, try and punish 5.3. Impunity 5.4. Obligation to provide reparations 6. The Belem do Para Convention and Article 5 of the American Convention on Human Rights 7. Places of detention and humane treatment: other issues 8. Special provisions for children and adolescents 9. Individualisation and the purpose of a sentence Chapter 4. Right to Personal Liberty 1. Introduction 2. General requirements for all deprivations of liberty 2.1. Legality 2.2. Absence of arbitrariness 3. Deprivation of liberty in the context of possible criminal proceedings 3.1. Grounds allowing for the apprehension of a person 3.2. Procedural requirements for an arrest 3.2.1. Right to be informed of the reasons for arrest 3.2.2. Right to be notified of the charges without delay 3.2.3. Right to be brought promptly before a judicial authority 3.2.4. Right to be brought to trial within a reasonable time or to be released 3.2.4.1. Reasons for keeping a person in detention 3.2.4.2. Concept of a reasonable period of time 3.2.4.3. Period to be considered for the purposes of application of Article 7(5) 3.3. Other State obligations with regard to the deprivation of liberty 3.4. Effects of deprivation of liberty on other human rights 4. Writ of habeas corpus 5. Prohibition of detention for debts 6. Forced disappearance of persons and Article 7 7. Deprivation of liberty and children and adolescents Chapter 5. Right to Due Process 1. Introduction 2. General requirements of due process 2.1. Right to a hearing 2.2. Criminal charges and determination of rights and obligations 2.3. Competent, independent and impartial tribunal, previously established by law 2.3.1. Concept of a tribunal 2.3.2. The establishment of the tribunal previously by law 2.3.3. Competent tribunal 2.3.4. Independent and impartial tribunal 2.4. Due guarantees 2.4.1. Principles of audi alteram partem and of equality in a proceeding 2.4.2. Right to be represented by an attorney 2.4.3. Reasonable time 2.4.3.1. Criteria for determining reasonableness 2.4.3.2. Burden of proof 2.4.3.3. How to measure the time period 2.4.3.4. Which periods count? Is the trial one entity? 2.4.4. Right to a reasoned ruling 2.4.5. Right for a ruling to be enforced 3. Special guarantees for the accused 3.1. Presumption of innocence 3.2. Other minimum guarantees 3.2.1. Right to a translator or interpreter 3.2.2. Right to be informed of the accusation 3.2.3. Granting the accused adequate time and means to prepare a defense 3.2.4. Right of the accused to defend himself personally or to have a lawyer with whom he may communicate freely and privately 3.2.5. Right to counsel provided by the state, according to domestic law 3.2.6. Right of the defense to examine witnesses or to obtain the appearance of experts or other persons 3.2.7. Right to be present at the trial 3.3. Possibility of other guarantees 3.4. Public trial, oral trials, and rulings open to the public 3.5. Right not to be compelled to be a witness against oneself or to plead guilty 3.6. Right to appeal the judgment to a higher court 3.7. Principle of ne bis in idem Chapter 6. Principle of Legality, Freedom from Ex Post Facto Laws and Right to Compensation for Miscarriage of Justice 1. Principle of legality 2. Nullum crimen sine lege: Freedom from ex post facto criminal laws 3. ullum poena sine lege 4. Right to compensation for miscarriage of justice Chapter 7. Right to Judicial Protection 1. Introduction 2. Article 25 and its connection with other provisions of the Convention 2.1. Article 25 and Articles 1(1) and 8 2.2. Article 25 and Article 7(6) 3. Characteristics of the remedy 3.1. Judicial remedy 3.2. Simple, prompt and effective remedy 3.2.1. Simple and prompt remedy 3.2.2. Effective remedy 4. State obligations 5. Right to a remedy and emergency situations

About the Author

Cecilia Medina (Chile, 1935) studied legal and social sciences at the University of Chile in Santiago and earned a doctorate in law at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. From 1995 to 2002 she was a member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee, including a period as its chair in 1999-2000. In 2004 she was elected to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, serving as its vice president in 2007 and as its president for the 2008 - 09 period (the first time a woman has held the office).