Notes From the Field: The Inter-American Court of Human Rights

Elizabeth Wheeler*

Part 3: The Staff

The Court's legal staff is comprised of the Secretary of the Court, who is elected to a five year term,[1] a Deputy Secretary, and approximately twelve attorneys who work extremely long hours preparing research and briefs, and writing and editing sample drafts of the judgments for the Judges. The legal staff is divided into five "teams" which each have one Senior Lawyer and one or two Junior Lawyers. The Secretary of the Court assigns each "team" an ongoing caseload of provisional measures, contentious cases, and advisory opinions. Additionally, the Secretary assigns each team several open cases called the "supervision of compliance with judgments."

The legal interns are assigned by the Deputy Secretary to assist the legal teams in their work during the course of their internships. The interns, who are often law students or practicing attorneys, work at the Court on a volunteer basis, usually for a term of three months. They come from countries and legal systems around the world.

One aspect of the Court's legal staff that surprised me is how young everyone is. Most of the Court's lawyers, including the Secretary and Deputy Secretary, are under forty years old, and many are under thirty. While the Court's legal staff, which provides the bulk of the work that creates its jurisprudence, is young, the staff makes up for its age in diversity, experience and dedication. More than half women, many of the lawyers have advanced degrees beyond a degree in law, and several have practiced in their countries' highest courts before working at the Inter-American Court. The average workweek is over twelve hours per day and six-and-a-half days per week. During the three weeks of open session held four times per year, the lawyers work even longer hours, staying as late as 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. and always arriving around 9:00 a.m. or earlier every morning.

In 2003, the Inter-American Court issued five judgments, one advisory opinion, responded to twenty requests for provisional measures, and issued reports on the compliance with judgments for sixteen cases.[2] This substantial workload will likely increase since the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is now responsible under its 2000 Rules of Procedure to "refer [any] case to the Court" when a "State has not complied with the recommendations" of the Commission, unless there is a "reasoned decision by an absolute majority. . .to the contrary."[3] As of this writing, the Inter-American Commission is "processing more than 800 individual cases."[4]

Another part of the Court's workload that is easy to overlook is the voluminous correspondence between the parties and the Court leading up to oral arguments and the published judgments, and throughout the supervision of compliance. Because the Inter-American Court is an "autonomous judicial institution,"[5] it has the authority to "obtain on its own motion, any evidence it considers helpful."[6] The requests for numerous extensions for the submission of evidence create an ongoing correspondence between the parties and the Court as the Court acquires the evidence it needs to make its reasoned judgments. Thus, a great bulk of the work of the Court takes place as it requests, catalogues, and examines what is often voluminous evidence supplied by the Commission, the responding State, and the representatives of the victims in each case.

In addition to the legal staff, the Court has a dedicated administrative staff who also work long hours to provide administrative assistance for a variety of the Court's functions, including press and publications, technological support, and preparation for public hearings, in addition to the Court's legal work.

Despite the long working hours and the frantic pace of the Court's employees, the atmosphere is surprisingly calm and positive. Entering the Court building, it is common to be greeted with smiles and salutations from every person you encounter. While the members of the legal staff, in particular, are often tired from long days of working late and arriving early, they are also consistently positive. Their long hours and dedication have created a kind of solidarity among them that helps them to maintain constant momentum in their work. Talking with staff members, one gets the sense that they truly appreciate the incredible impact of their work: the work of each member of the Court's legal and administrative staff contributes overall to a system which provides the last hope of justice for human rights victims all over the Continent, and contributes to the development of human rights law worldwide.

Part 4: The Sessions

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* Elizabeth Wheeler, J.D. expected 2005, is a student at Santa Clara University School of Law. This series of essays is based on her experience as an intern at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights during the summer of 2004.

[1] Rules of Procedure of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Title I, Ch. II, Art. 7, para 1 and 2, available at http://www.corteidh.or.cr/general_ing/rules.html.

[2] Information available on the Court's website at http://www.corteidh.or.cr/juris/index.html. Last accessed on Aug. 11, 2004.

[3] Rules of Procedure of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights at Title II, Ch. II, Art. 44 para 1, available at http://www.cidh.org/Basicos/basic16.htm.

[4] Available at http://www.cidh.org/what.htm.

[5] The Statute of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Art. 1, available at http://www.corteidh.or.cr/general_ing/statute.html.

[6] Rules of Procedure of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Title II, Ch. IV, Art. 45, para 1, available at http://www.corteidh.or.cr/general_ing/rules.html.