A Conversation with Judge Diego Moreno Rodríguez on the Democratic Legitimacy of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

In recent years, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has issued landmark rulings on matters ranging from indigenous rights to gender-based political violence, via extrajudicial killings and the use of lethal force during social protests. Notably, it has recently addressed the right to a healthy environment and the obligations of states in response to climate change. While these decisions have attracted significant attention, there has been less discussion about the kind of institution that the Court has become.

In this lecture, Judge Diego Moreno Rodríguez will present three ways of understanding the role of the Court in relation to criteria of democratic legitimacy. He will ask what each of these models implies for the relationship between domestic and international law. He will argue that the Court has moved a long way from a purely international tribunal towards a regional constitutional court, and assess the implications of this change for the scope and limits of the Court’s authority.

The lecture is free to attend and will be followed by a Q&A.

About the Speaker

Diego Moreno Rodríguez is a judge at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. A Paraguayan lawyer and academic, he has over 20 years of experience in teaching, international public service, and legal practice. He graduated with honours from the Catholic University in Asunción, holds an LLM from Columbia University and a doctorate in constitutional law from the University of Salamanca. He teaches constitutional law and human rights in Paraguay and abroad and has published widely on both subjects. He previously worked over six years in the Department of International Law at the Organization of American States.