The CRC as a litigation tool before the inter-american system of protection of human rights

Abstract

This chapter examines how the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has been used as a litigation tool before the Inter–American System of Protection of Human Rights. First, it argues that the CRC is used as a tool of litigation at the substantial level when construing the obligations of States Parties by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in individual complaints under the American Convention on Human Rights. Secondly, the chapter examines the way in which the CRC is also effectively used at a procedural level. It is submitted that far from departing from traditional interpretative rules under Public International Law, the Inter–American Court’s approach is, on the contrary, in accordance with the basic tools of treaty interpretation as enshrined in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. It is submitted that this is in agreement with keeping the unity of international law.