Title: Activity: What protection exists for these rights?
Course: Inter-American Human Rights System - 2nd. Edition > Section: The IAHRS

What types of protection exist for these rights?

The American Convention establishes a series of rights for all persons and specifies that the Commission and the Inter-American Court are the bodies responsible for overseeing compliance with commitments made by State Parties to the Convention, and for regulating their implementation. For the Convention to apply to a State Party, it must consent to be bound by it, but not all OAS Member States have done this. For this reason, one could say that the IAHRS has three levels of protection:

- Level 1. Countries that have ratified the American Convention and accepted the jurisdiction of the Court; this is the highest level of protection offered by the System. For a case to be heard by the IA Court, the State, in addition to being a Party to the Convention, must also accept the Court's competence to receive cases. If a State has accepted the Court's competence, the Commission can submit cases to the Court.
- Level 2. Countries that have ratified the American Convention but have not accepted the jurisdiction of the IA Court. In this case, the Commission can receive cases for violations of the Convention but cannot submit them to the IA Court.
- Level 3. Countries where the American Declaration applies: for those States that have neither ratified the American Convention, the American Declaration still applies. The Commission can process cases, issue precautionary measures and, in general, use all the mechanisms at its disposal to bring the State into compliance with its obligations, but cannot submit cases to the IA Court.

 To understand the importance of ratification of human rights treaties, we invite you to hear from Commissioner Margaret May Macaulay.

Which level is your country at?

Find here whether your State has ratified the American Convention and whether it has accepted the jurisdiction of the IA Court. Decide if your country corresponds to Level 1, 2, or 3.

Write in the space below your country and its corresponding level. If your country has already been ranked by someone else, choose another country that has not yet been chosen.

To participate, follow the steps below:

1. Click on the icon with the + sign.
2. A new window appears where you can add text and other elements (including images) that you wish to include in your participation.
3. After editing your participation, please remember to click on “Post”.

Many countries in the region have taken important steps toward the promotion and protection of human rights by becoming party to various Inter-American instruments and guaranteeing the incorporation of these instruments into their domestic law. However, reinforcing the democratic institutional frameworks of States and strengthening their capacities to implement public policies with a human rights approach, continue to pose a challenge. Furthermore, States that correspond to levels 2 and 3 should make efforts to advance to level 1 to ensure the maximum protection offered by the System for their citizens.