More and more people are turning to human rights courts to seek protection against prejudice, disadvantage or exclusion on account of their cultural and economic particularities. Human rights courts are thus increasingly faced with the difficult task of deciding these cases, which raise a number of complex and contested legal questions. To what extent can courts accommodate cultural diversity, protect all kinds of groups or interfere in socio-economic policy? This book argues that one of the problems encountered in dealing with such cases is the courts' tendency to assess them from a 'compartmentalised' or fragmentary perspective. This line of reasoning isolates or places into 'boxes' the various interrelated components of the right holder's claim and the norms concerning the case to their detriment. This book critiques this reductionist approach that is out of touch with real life and which, moreover, tends to leave the roots of the alleged violations intact. To counterbalance this tendency, an innovative, integrated and person-centered approach to adjudicating claims of cultural difference and economic disadvantage is put forward. Drawing on the concepts of intersectionality, indivisibility and normative interdependence, the book presents specific notions and methods for approaching the appreciation of rights holders, harms and norms in a holistic manner. A wide selection of case law from both the European and the Inter-American courts of human rights supports the normative framework developed in this book. The sample mostly includes cases brought by Muslims, Roma, Travelers, indigenous peoples, afro-descendants and people living in poverty.Cultural Difference and Economic Disadvantage in Regional Human Rights Courts: An Integrated View combines legal theory with practical insights in analysing both cultural an economic issues, which are rarely addressed together in human rights legal scholarship. It also offers a context-sensitive and relational view of human rights law that puts rights holders at the heart of the legal analysis, taking heed of the social structures within which legal frameworks operate. The book makes for compelling reading for students, academics and practitioners working in the fields of human rights law, jurisprudence, constitutional law, legal theory and feminist and cultural studies.

Human Rights Tectonics: Global Dynamics of Integration and Fragmentation is a collaborative effort of internationally renowned human rights experts to analyse the effectiveness of legal protection in a highly fragmented and multi-layered human rights system.Bringing together international, European and national perspectives and focusing on select subject areas such as non-discrimination, accommodation of cultural identity and socio-economic rights, the book examines the difficulties faced by human rights lawyers in their day-to-day work. Through the implementation of a methodology applying both theoretical inquiry and case study examples, the book analyses the impact of the fragmentation of international and regional human rights and how this can cause failures in effective legal protection or, on certain occasions, strengthen it. The imagery of plate tectonics aims to portray the extent to which human rights law is in perpetual construction and constant renewal with lines of convergence and divergence. Entangled into battles, shocks, jolts or clashes, human rights find themselves today 'on trial'. Against this backdrop, the book addresses the case for an increased integration of human rights law, comprehensively and critically, with a focus on concrete and contemporary issues.

The American Convention on Human Rights contains an in-depth analysis of and comment on crucial rights protected under the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR) in the light of the decisions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR). In the first years of its existence (1979-2003), violations of the core rights - namely the right to life, the right to personal freedom, the right to personal integrity, the right to due process and the right to a judicial remedy - formed the majority of complaints before the Court at a time when many of the contracting States had either just left, or were still immersed in a dictatorship and were only just attempting to introduce the idea of human rights in a democratic society into their own legal systems. This fully revised and updated third edition now also covers the IACtHRs steps towards maturity (2004-2020) and another crucial right is added to the books chapters, namely, the right to equality and non-discrimination. Due to the political and social changes in the region, the Court, since 2003, has had to examine and consider a greater variety of rights, such as freedom of speech, structural discrimination and the lack of proper protection of the human rights of women and LGBTI people. The human rights of Indigenous peoples have also come to the Courts attention, due to the lack of judicial protection of their rights, which leads to State responsibility by omission. Most of these issues were discussed in the second edition of this book, which covered the Courts case law until 2014; since then, however, important developments have taken place. These include a richer jurisprudence on equality and non-discrimination, covering intersectionality, racial profiling and sexual abuse as well as a more nuanced analysis of harmful stereotypes. Furthermore, since 2017 the Court has asserted its competence to adjudicate social, economic, cultural and environmental rights. The increasing number of social protests, the rise of new forms of authoritarianism, land conflicts as well as internal and cross-border displacement over the last few years, have also shaped the Courts interpretation of proportionality, use of force and the rights to life, humane treatment, personal liberty and progressive development. While systematic and gross violations of human rights continue to be part of the Courts work, their treatment has become more refined, leading to more precise and effective responses.Taking into consideration these changes, this edition not only includes a new chapter on equality and non-discrimination, it also dedicates greater attention to developments in the manner in which the Court understands its own functions and interacts with national authorities, such as the limits of its contentious jurisdiction and the idea of the conventionality control. In addition, the first chapter provides a critical review of key shifts in the Courts interpretation, such as those concerning the notion of rights holders and the adjudication on social, economic, cultural and environmental rights. The chapter on the right to humane treatment, for its part, presents a more specific gender analysis, with a focus on gender-based violence. The American Convention on Human Rights is a scholarly yet practical book on a dynamic human rights system that is striving to consolidate itself. It is a useful tool for practitioners to support their work and for academics in their teaching of the Inter-American System.