Part II Means of Protection, Ch.VIII Inter-American Court of Human Rights, s.2 Jurisdiction and Functions, Article 61

This chapter discusses Article 61 of the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR). Article 61 of the ACHR is dedicated to the jurisdiction and functions of the Inter-American Tribunal. The provision addresses two fundamental procedural issues. The first paragraph lists the entities that are entitled to act before the Court (jus standi), namely, the States Parties to the ACHR and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The second paragraph specifies the manner in which this right of action is be implemented. Both the State concerned and the Commission must first exhaust the procedural mechanisms described in Articles 48 to 50, before referring the matter to the Court. This means that, unlike in European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Tribunal is not directly accessible to the entities (States or Commission) entitled to bring cases before it. This also means that it is not directly accessible to individual petitioners.