Part II Means of Protection, Ch.VII Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, s.3 Competence, Article 46

This chapter analyzes Article 46 of the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR). Article 46 of the ACHR contains the substance of the admissibility requirements of individual petitions and inter-States communications lodged before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights by the virtue of Article 44 and Article 45 of the ACHR. The non-compliance with any of these conditions triggers an important procedural consequence laid down in Article 47 of the ACHR, that is, the rejection for inadmissibility of the individual petition or inter-States communication. Article 46 echoes the principle of legal certainty. Article 46 of the ACHR determines four conditions of admissibility. First, the domestic remedies must have been exhausted, under exceptions that are expressly mentioned in the provision. Second, the individual petition or inter-States communication must have been lodged within a period of six months since the notification of the final domestic ruling regarding the alleged violation. Third, the petition or communication cannot be pending in another international proceeding for settlement (lis pendens). And finally, the petition lodged under Article 44 must identify the petitioner or their representative.