This page contains updates pertaining to the three major Human Rights Courts and Commissions (Inter-American, European, and African) currently in operation. This page will provide our readers the unique opportunity to obtain summaries of jurisprudence and decisions from all three human rights systems, alongside legal analysis of the possible impacts and implications of each decision.
European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)
The European Court of Human Rights is an international court that was established in 1959. It presides over individual or State complaints alleging violations of the civil and political rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights. Since 1998, the European Court of Human Rights has heard cases on a full-time basis, accepting cases submitted directly by individual petitioners.
Inter-American Court for Human Rights (IACtHR) and Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is an organ of the Organization of American States (OAS) that has worked for over 50 years to strengthen the laws and institutions that provide human rights protections within the Americas. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is complementary, yet autonomous, judicial institution established by the OAS in 1979. The Court applies and interprets the American Convention on Human Rights.
African Regional & Sub-Regional Courts
Similar to the relationship between the Inter-American Court and Commission, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights complements the protective mandate of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The Court has the competence to hear complaints filed by States, and can pronounce final binding decisions pertaining to human rights violations. Currently 25 African States have acceded to the Court’s jurisdiction.
