IACHR Publishes Compendium on Democratic Institutions

December 29, 2023

Washington, D.C. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is releasing today its publication Compendium on Democratic Institutions, the Rule of Law, and Human Rights. Inter-American Standards. This compendium holds a systematic review and analysis of the standards concerning democratic institutions and the rule of law developed by the IACHR and its various mechanisms. The document identifies and strategically compiles a selection of paradigmatic statements showing the development of the relevant inter-American standards.

The compendium is based on a review of reports and other statements issued by the IACHR over the period 2000–2023 and seeks to be both up-to-date and representative. It aims to provide system users with an analysis of the prevailing standards concerning democracy, in order to support the application of those standards and thus to strengthen democracies around the Americas.

The compendium has four chapters. Chapter I focuses on the objectives, structure, and methodology used to tackle the systematic review of the relevant inter-American standards. Chapter II introduces various conceptual notions concerning democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. Chapter III presents IACHR statements and decisions that show the content and scope of standards concerning institutions and it includes several related concepts: the separation and independence of the different branches of government; citizen security; the right to participate; the right to freedom of expression, and the concept of civic space. This chapter also reviews statements concerning various aspects of the rule of law, including the legality principle and principle of non-retroactivity of the law; access to justice and due process; States' obligation to adapt their regulatory framework to reflect inter-American standards and conventionality checks; and states of exception. Finally, Chapter IV presents a series of conclusions.

The IACHR has identified various major challenges concerning the relevance of rights and liberties in democratic systems. The Commission therefore stresses, on the one hand, the need to strengthen States' democratic institutions. On the other hand, the IACHR stresses the need to strengthen States' capacity to implement public policies with a human rights focus that may have a concrete impact on the enjoyment of human rights by individuals, groups, and communities, ensuring equality and fairness based on the inherent value of human dignity.

This compendium is one of the measures taken by the Commission to improve and strengthen public policies, regulations, practices, and initiatives in countries around the Americas, in order to promote democratic institutions and the rule of law and to better protect fundamental rights. The idea is also that dissemination, knowledge, and use of these IACHR standards may encourage reflection about all the factors that weaken democratic institutions and the rule of law and may inspire social participation to demand the enforcement of these rights, generate platforms for dialogue between States and civil society, and enable the adjustments in regulations and public policies required to strengthen those institutions.

This compendium was drafted in the context of the Regional Project on Human Rights and Democracy, which the IACHR is conducting alongside the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF). This project seeks to improve local stakeholders' knowledge of the Inter-American Human Rights System and its standards, in order to help those stakeholders comply with their own mandates to protect and ensure human rights.

A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect for and to defend human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this area. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 329/23

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