IACHR Adopts Resolution to Notify Moves to Close Inactive Petitions

March 22, 2022

Resolution 1/22 and its annex

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Washington, D.C. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) adopted Resolution 1/22 and its annex, to notify stakeholders of moves to close a significant number of petitions that are currently at the initial assessment stage. This resolution emerges in a broader context of IACHR efforts to reduce procedural backlog in its petition and case system.

During 2021, the IACHR's Executive Secretariat conducted a thorough review of more than 5,000 petitions filed during the past two decades that had seen no action by the petitioning party for 3–10 years, although action had been requested. This review identified 3,357 petitions where the petitioning party had been inactive for more than three years. More than 82.7% of these were petitions where the petitioner had been inactive for at least five years.

In this context, taking into consideration the requirements stated in Article 42 of its Rules of Procedure, the Inter-American Commission passed on January 19 Resolution XX/22, which serves as a formal warning that all petitions listed in the resolution's annex are set to be closed. The relevant petitioning parties will be considered to have been notified of this warning on the resolution's issue date. Unless these petitioners respond to the warning, the respective petitions will be closed over the following two months, in compliance with Article 42 of the IACHR's Rules of Procedure.

Petitions' initial assessment procedure is regulated by Articles 26–29 of the Rules of Procedure, which grants the relevant powers to the IACHR's Executive Secretariat. This procedure entails a full preliminary analysis of admissibility and competence requirements concerning a given petition, in the terms spelled out in the American Convention on Human Rights, the Commission's Statute and Rules of Procedure, and other applicable inter-American instruments.

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. 057/22

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