jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court which interprets those provisions. The
national judges and organs charged with the administration of justice have the
important mission of safeguarding not only the fundamental rights provided under
domestic law, but also the set of values, principles and human rights recognized by
the State when it assumed its international commitment to uphold these
international instruments. Domestic judges become the first interpreters of
international standards, if we consider the subsidiary, complementary, and
contributory nature of the Inter-American organs with respect to those
contemplated in the domestic jurisdiction of the American States and the new
“mission” that they now have to safeguard the inter-American corpis juris through
this new “control.”
25.
This evolving process of national acceptance of international human rights
law is clearly expressed in important legislative reforms in the States, which
incorporate different constitutional clauses in order to allow the influx of
International Law. This is evident in the recognition of the constitutional hierarchy
of international human rights treatises, 36 or the acceptance of their supraconstitutional nature when they are more favorable; 37 recognition of their
specificity in this matter; 38 acceptance of the pro homine or favor libertatis
principles as interpretive national criteria; 39 the incorporation of "open clauses" to
incorporate other rights under convention regulations; 40 or in constitutional clauses
to interpret rights and freedoms “in accordance with” international human rights
instruments, 41 among other scenarios. 42 In this way, conventional standards
acquire constitutional status.
26.
The process described above of incorporating international human rights law
at national level, is also due to the domestic courts, especially the higher
constitutional judicial bodies, which have progressively favored dynamic
interpretations that promote and enable the acceptance of human rights
established in international treaties. 43 This forms a true “constitutional block” or
mass which, though it varies from country to country, takes into consideration not
36
In an explicit manner, for example, in Argentina (Art. 73) and the Dominican Republic (Art.
74(3) of the new Constitution proclaimed in January 2010).
37
Bolivia (Art. 256); Ecuador (Art. 424); and Venezuela (Art. 23).
38
Regardless of the established regulatory hierarchy, a large number of constitutional texts
recognize some level of specificity to international human rights agreements, for example, in Argentina,
Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic and Venezuela.
Moreover, in the Federal Mexican Entities of Sinaloa, Tlaxcala, and Querétaro.
39
For example, in Peru (Art. 4); Ecuador (Art. 417); and in the new Constitution of the Dominican
Republic of January 2010 (art. 74.4).
40
For example, Brazil (Article 5.LXXVII.2), Bolivia (art. 13.II), Colombia (art. 94), Ecuador (art.
417), Panama (art. 17), Peru (art. 3), Dominican Republic (art. 74.1) y Uruguay (art. 72).
41
For example, Bolivia (Art. 13.IV), Colombia (Art. 93), Haiti (Art. 19) and in the Federal Mexican
Entities of Sinaloa (4º Bis C), Tlaxcala (Article 16 B) and Querétaro (Considering para. 15).
42
On the “interpretation pursuant” to the international pacts, see Caballero, José Luis, La
incorporación de los tratados internacionales sobre derechos humanos en Mexico y España, [The
incorporation of international treatises on human rights in Mexico and Spain], Mexico, Porrúa, 2009.
43
Two of the most representative constitutional jurisdictions which have adopted outstanding
interpretations to encourage the applicability of international human rights treaties since the early
nineties are the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Costa Rica and the Constitutional Court
of Colombia. The first granted supranational status to international human rights treaties when their
provisions are more favorable than those provided in the Constitution. The second acknowledged said
treatises within the "constitutional block.” Both Courts have subsequently made significant progress in
this area.
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