Part III General and Transitory Provisions, Ch.X Signature, Ratification, Reservations, Amendments, Protocols, and Denunciation, Article 76

This chapter analyzes Article 76 of the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR), which is an “adaptation clause.” Its aim is to enable the text of the ACHR adopted in the specific context in 1969 to be adapted to changes in mentalities and perceptions of human rights. Indeed, it organizes the procedure for amending the instrument and, in this respect, the ACHR is one of the treaties which explicitly provide for their amendment regime. Article 76 of the ACHR refers to a specific modality of modification of the Convention, namely, the amendment. It must be read in conjunction with Article 77 of the ACHR, which refers to another explicit modality of modification of the Convention text, that is, the addition of protocols. In order to adapt the treaty to moving societal, political, or otherwise realities, the States Parties have, therefore, two different paths at their disposal, which do not have the same scope.