Part II Means of Protection, Ch.VII Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, s.1 Organization, Article 38

This chapter looks at Article 38 of the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR). Article 38 of the ACHR is intended to cover the special case of a vacancy that occurs under exceptional conditions, such as death, removal, or early resignation. Article 38 of the ACHR and Article 11 of the Statute of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights organize the rules governing this type of early election. Providing for this type of situation is common in international institutions of this type. Articles 33-1 and 34 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), for example, provide for the same type of rules obeying the same rationale. Considering that the Commission is composed of only seven members and taking account the heavy workload of this institution, such provision allowing to organize fast replacement is fully relevant. Indeed, Article 38 was used in practice in several cases.