Chairs:

• Jesús María Casal Hernández – jcasal@ucab.edu.ve
• Daniela Urosa Maggi – urosa@bc.edu

Democracy and its essential attributes have undergone a profound evolution. The concept has shifted from understanding democracy merely as a form of government based on popular sovereignty and suffrage—or other mechanisms of participation—to the notion of constitutional or conventional democracy, in which the rule of law and human rights are also considered inherent and necessary components of a democratic system.

In parallel, safeguards for the democratic order have likewise advanced, not only established within domestic constitutional frameworks but also within supranational and international regimes. In the inter-American sphere, key instruments have included the Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS), with its reforms, the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, and, subsequently, the Inter-American Democratic Charter.

The inseparable link between democracy, the rule of law, and human rights is conceived as a fundamental standard of the Inter-American Human Rights System and, if one may say, the very foundation of common Latin American constitutional law. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has progressively delineated the scope of this triad—democracy, rule of law, and human rights—which has also given rise to the recent request for an advisory opinion submitted by Guatemala to the Court to determine whether democracy should be protected as a human right or as a political system in which human rights can be realized.

It is pertinent to analyze whether democracy is not only a general principle but also an individual and collective right grounded in the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR), the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and other instruments; and, if so, what its scope, main attributes, and the obligations it generates for states in terms of respect, guarantee, and protection are.

The purpose of this panel is to examine the scope of the right to democracy as a human right within the framework of the Inter-American Human Rights System, with a particular focus on its justiciability and guarantee both in the constitutional and conventional spheres. The panel will address the right to democracy, paying special attention to inseparable issues such as judicial independence, the right to vote and political participation, freedom of expression and association, the protection of vulnerable groups, the role of civil society, and the climate crisis, and their constitutional and conventional treatment. Particular consideration will be given to situations of democratic deterioration, erosion, or dismantling, in order to propose possible responses to safeguard the right to democracy.