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Episode fifteen: How the Inter-American Court takes a different approach to human rights

How does the approach of the Costa Rica-based Inter-American Court of Human Rights compare to that of the European Court of Human Rights?

We start exploring this question through two cases that involved Mexico and the US. Both cases gave rise to advisory opinions.

In the first, the Inter-American Court explained how it thought human rights law applied to the failure of authorities in the United States to ensure that Mexico be in a position to offer support to Mexican nationals detained in the US.

The second case concerned Mexican workers, again in the United States, who had been sacked after forming a trade union, without receiving back pay. The US Supreme Court did not find this objectionable. This episode reveals how and why the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ own interpretation took lawyers around the world by surprise.

[podcast]https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/humanrights/files/2015/04/hrm15_the_inter-america_court_follows_a_different_tack-13tnxj2.mp3[/podcast]

(If you have problems with the embedded player use this link to listen).

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In other news Marie is delivering her inaugural lecture on Wednesday 6th May 2015 entitled: Human rights can save lives, but whose? Click the link for further details including the time and location.