Part II Means of Protection, Ch.IX Common Provisions, Article 73

Abstract

This chapter explains Article 73 of the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR). Article 73 of the ACHR addresses the key question of the disciplinary regime applicable to members of both the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court. The balance established by the provision consists to giving the Organization of American States (OAS) General Assembly the formal authority to impose a disciplinary sanction on a member of the Commission or a judge of the Court, but only at the request of these organs. This is a fundamental safeguard of the independence of the two human rights bodies and their respective Secretariats, allowing them a protection from pressure from OAS member States (in the case of the Commission) or States Parties to the ACHR (in the case of the Court). Article 73 constitutes, by its very content, a guarantee of the proper functioning of the organs, and as such, the provision is innovative when compared to what is provided for other international courts.