Barbados to host Inter-American Court of Human Rights

For the first time, Barbados will host a session of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) beginning on Monday. The court’s 166th session, a four-day event, is to take place at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus in the Sagicor Cave Hill School of Business and Management.

At a Ministry of Foreign Affairs press launch on Friday, Attorney General Dale Marshall explained that the hearings aim to discuss the impact of climate change on human rights.

The historic hearings will focus specifically on the court providing an advisory opinion on the human rights impacts of climate change in the region. Several countries and civil society groups are expected to make submissions.

“When climate change has a deleterious effect on the ability of our societies to survive, then clearly the fundamental human rights of individuals are impacted,” said Marshall. “Therefore, this is not being litigated in an economic court. It is being litigated and considered in a court that looks at how people live, work and survive, and therefore, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights is very important for us.”

While the court’s decisions would not be legally binding like a High Court ruling, the attorney general said “it sets out an exposition of the legal principles….These advisory opinions reflect a clear understanding of and a statement of the law, and therefore they are considered to be a very important and influential resource for member states.”

Foreign Minister Kerrie Symmonds highlighted the significance of the event given insurance challenges facing the region related to climate change.

“If we do not have insurance, we cannot speak sensibly to the issue of investment…. The absence of insurance or the inaccessibility of insurance because of the cost of the premia effectively means that we are uninsurable and therefore we reduce our ability to expand our economies.”

The proceedings will be overseen by UK-based international law firm Volterra Fietta which has previously done work for the government’s maritime boundaries negotiations. Owner Robert Volterra described it as “an important step in the legal process”, noting close work with Barbadian officials to achieve the policy objectives of the involved states.

Based in the Costa Rican capital, San Jose, the IACHR is one of two bodies that make up the human rights protection system in the 34-nation Organisation of American States (OAS), along with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Its objective is the application and interpretation of the American Convention on Human Rights and other treaties concerning the protection of human rights in the Americas. All OAS member countries are automatically subject to the court’s advisory authority once they ratify the Convention. (SZB)