Proportionality and criminal law in the Interamerican-System

CLÉRICO LAURA

Göttingen Handbook on Latin American Public Law and Criminal Justice

Nomos

Año: 2023; p. 15 - 30

Latin America enriches the legal landscape through its contradictions. It is a region known for its rich cultural and socio-economic diversity and its law is shaped by this diversity as legal systems have evolved to reflect the unique social, economic and political realities of each State in the region. Contrasting with this diversity is a commonality, an Iberian heritage in language and culture and above all, from a legal perspective, the common roots of the law that today´s Latin American States have drawn upon. This handbook reflects this contradictory diversity focusing on criminal law, constitutional law and international law, i.e., the three areas to which Latin American law makes a particular contribution. It is of interest to all persons and institutions who want to deepen their knowledge about Latin America’s legal diversity.In specific, the chapter explores the uses of proportionality when criminal law interferes with human rights in Latin America. To do so, I use the case law of the Interamerican Court of Human Rights (“IACtHR”) as an exemplary basis to demonstrate the various uses of proportionality, to focus on its use in challenging criminal law and criminal sanctions. As I will show, the proportionality test is a methodology that forms part of the consolidated jurisprudence of the IACtHR and this has relevance for the Inter-American system because of the impact that the Court’s standards seek to have at the domestic level.https://www.nomos-shop.de/nomos/titel/goettingen-handbook-on-latin-american-public-law-and-criminal-justice-id-99956/