Judicial backlash in inter-American human rights law

After a steady process of influence upon states, both the Court and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights are subject today to significant and direct challenges from states. From the use of diplomatic mechanisms to contain the powers of human rights bodies, to the challenges by domestic courts of the doctrines of the Inter-American Court, to the radical decision of withdrawing from a treaty, states are resisting more than ever before the authority of inter-American human rights institutions. This paper explores the episodes of resistance and delineates ways in which the Commission, and particularly the Court, could address them in order to protect their critical, and presently impugned, authority.