The Battle of Rights and Transformative Constitutionalism

Based on my personal and professional experiences, I will briefly present the origin and development of the principles of respect for fundamental rights and democracy in the Inter-American system. Latin America has several lessons to share with other regions in order to fight against cross systematic violations of human rights. The joint venture between the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights is one example. The transformative constitutionalism of the current times relays on the progressive understanding of the American Convention and national constitutions. After 31 years of the publication of my book “The battle of HUMAN rights,” I will focus on what has been transformative and what remains unchanged. This will allow me to share some pros and cons related to the contemporary debates about this relevant issue.