Justice for All in the Americas? A Quantitative Analysis of Admissibility Decisions in the Inter-American Human Rights System

The overwhelming majority of unsuccessful petitions in the Organization of American States’ Inter-American human rights system are unsuccessful because they are dismissed at the pre-admissibility or admissibility phase rather than at the merits phase. Although this preliminary screening of applicati...

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Main Author: Simon Zschirnt
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-07-01
Series:Laws
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-471X/10/3/56
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author Simon Zschirnt
author_facet Simon Zschirnt
author_sort Simon Zschirnt
collection DOAJ
description The overwhelming majority of unsuccessful petitions in the Organization of American States’ Inter-American human rights system are unsuccessful because they are dismissed at the pre-admissibility or admissibility phase rather than at the merits phase. Although this preliminary screening of applications constitutes the major obstacle to petitioners seeking justice, there has been relatively little scholarly analysis of the potential interplay of legal and attitudinal factors at this phase. That is, whether this phase may be where the biases that the system has been accused of (i.e., bias against leftist regimes and a “hierarchization” of negative rights and liberties over social justice) manifest themselves. This article fills this gap in the literature by undertaking a comprehensive quantitative analysis of Inter-American Commission on Human Rights admissibility decisions that measures the impact of a broad range of factors and compares the dynamics of admissibility decisions with those of merits decisions. In so doing, it places into context backlash against the system that has led to recent changes in the system’s procedures.
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spelling doaj.art-1d9e6a0f8cec4f769b66b5d38dda8f022023-11-22T13:54:47ZengMDPI AGLaws2075-471X2021-07-011035610.3390/laws10030056Justice for All in the Americas? A Quantitative Analysis of Admissibility Decisions in the Inter-American Human Rights SystemSimon Zschirnt0Department of Social Sciences, Texas A&M International University, Laredo, TX 78041, USAThe overwhelming majority of unsuccessful petitions in the Organization of American States’ Inter-American human rights system are unsuccessful because they are dismissed at the pre-admissibility or admissibility phase rather than at the merits phase. Although this preliminary screening of applications constitutes the major obstacle to petitioners seeking justice, there has been relatively little scholarly analysis of the potential interplay of legal and attitudinal factors at this phase. That is, whether this phase may be where the biases that the system has been accused of (i.e., bias against leftist regimes and a “hierarchization” of negative rights and liberties over social justice) manifest themselves. This article fills this gap in the literature by undertaking a comprehensive quantitative analysis of Inter-American Commission on Human Rights admissibility decisions that measures the impact of a broad range of factors and compares the dynamics of admissibility decisions with those of merits decisions. In so doing, it places into context backlash against the system that has led to recent changes in the system’s procedures.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-471X/10/3/56Organization of American StatesInter-American human rights systemInter-American Commission on Human Rightsadmissibility
spellingShingle Simon Zschirnt
Justice for All in the Americas? A Quantitative Analysis of Admissibility Decisions in the Inter-American Human Rights System
Laws
Organization of American States
Inter-American human rights system
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
admissibility
title Justice for All in the Americas? A Quantitative Analysis of Admissibility Decisions in the Inter-American Human Rights System
title_full Justice for All in the Americas? A Quantitative Analysis of Admissibility Decisions in the Inter-American Human Rights System
title_fullStr Justice for All in the Americas? A Quantitative Analysis of Admissibility Decisions in the Inter-American Human Rights System
title_full_unstemmed Justice for All in the Americas? A Quantitative Analysis of Admissibility Decisions in the Inter-American Human Rights System
title_short Justice for All in the Americas? A Quantitative Analysis of Admissibility Decisions in the Inter-American Human Rights System
title_sort justice for all in the americas a quantitative analysis of admissibility decisions in the inter american human rights system
topic Organization of American States
Inter-American human rights system
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
admissibility
url https://www.mdpi.com/2075-471X/10/3/56
work_keys_str_mv AT simonzschirnt justiceforallintheamericasaquantitativeanalysisofadmissibilitydecisionsintheinteramericanhumanrightssystem