Call for papers: World Congress workshop 13 - ‘Latin-American constitutional law’

IACL World Congress, Mexico  
Workshop 13: New Trends in Latin American Constitutional Law

 In the last few years Latin America has seen a strong development of the constitutional principles that characterize liberal democracies.  New constitutions have been enacted and the Constitutional and Supreme Courts have strengthened their role as guardians of the Constitution.  The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has enhanced its authority and improved its relationship with the national courts.

The time has therefore come for an overview of the latest trends in Latin American constitutionalism especially with regard to the form of government, the relationship between centralization and federalism and the protection of rights.  Having said this one cannot disregard the fact that in certain areas there is an enduring breach of the principles that distinguish constitutional states.

 The workshop calls for papers on the following topics:    

1. New Latin American Constitutionalism (1999-2009) from Venezuela to Bolivia:

1. The evolution of presidentialism in Latin America;
2. The debate on the introduction of parliamentary forms of government in some Latin American countries;
3. Political parties and electoral systems in Latin America;
4. Federalism and local government in Latin America.

2. Models and systems of constitutional adjudication in Latin America:

1. Centralised and decentralised constitutional review;
2. Influence of the Inter-American Human Rights Court on the national courts;

3. The protection of human rights in Latin American constitutions and the relationship with the Inter-American System:

1. Space for economic and social rights;
2. Limitation of rights: new trends for solving a recurrent endemic problem;
3. Human development as a precondition to social democracy within the context of the rule of law;
4. Implementation and upholding of economic, social and cultural rights in Latin America;
5. Strategies for the improvement of legal-political integration in Latin America in relation to universal values such as human rights, sustainable development, democracy and political pluralism;
6. Media protection in the context of the globalized world and in contemporary constitutional law. The role of social communication in Latin America and its restrictions in certain countries.

Chairs:
Professors Miguel Carbonnell [This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.], Guiseppe de Vergottini [This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.] and Marcelo de Figueiredo [This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.]

Please see further:

• Procedures for submitting a paper to a workshop