QUITO, Ecuador, Feb. 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A space for discussion on the future of law and a well-understood, more flexible and complex justice is what took place on the morning of February 15, 2023, at the Swissotel (av. 12 de Octubre 1820) in Quito, Ecuador. This happened in the framework of the International Seminar on International Protection of Human Rights organized by UTE University, through its Faculty of Law and Social Sciences.

The event was free and supported by the National Council of the Judiciary. It was attended by a high representation of judges, lawyers, law students, policymakers, public servants, and the general public.

William Terán, president of the Judiciary, valued the realization of this kind of initiatives by the UTE. He also said that "the world of human rights law is fascinating, as it impacts with the legal heart towards all branches of law. There can be no civilist who does not understand Human Rights, much less a criminal lawyer, a taxpayer or an administrative worker."

In his turn, Ricardo Hidalgo Ottolenghi, rector of the University organizing the event, welcomed all international and national participants and mentioned that the international protection of Human Rights and the linkage of decisions taken in this area are vital for States, in order to consolidate an effective system that makes reality what is embodied in international instruments and the Constitutions themselves.

He added that "our Constitution, our legislation and the judgments of the Ecuadorian Constitutional Court underpin in this regard. However, there is still resistance on the part of States to the obligation to comply with the decisions of international human rights bodies, under the argument of sovereignty or overreach in the competences of the aforementioned bodies, which, in many cases, only mask the lack of commitment to Human Rights or double standards in cases of high political sensitivity.

"However, Human Rights must be the center of state work without looking at whom, that should be the approach of a State like Ecuador, constitutionally characterized by rights and justice," he said.

Subsequently, it was the turn of the conferences to share experiences on the legal effects of the pronouncements of international organizations for the protection of Human Rights.

Víctor Rodríguez Rescia, president of the Center for Civil and Political Rights (Geneva) and former member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee, said that the treaties were made to comply with them in good faith; hence it is not possible that international law and constitutional law are in dispute, since the most favorable norm must prevail.

He also spoke of lawfare and the takeover of the judicial systems of countries such as Mexico, Salvador and Ecuador. In this regard, he said that due process must always be respected and specified that in the case of Ecuador there is no discussion about binding because the Constitution orders it in Articles 411 and 436.

On the other hand, he pointed out that the Law is not static and "that's when it begins to pilgrimage." He also mentioned that we need to depoliticize human rights and treaties.

Next, Silvia Serrano Guzmán, co-director of the Health and Human Rights Initiative at Georgetown University (USA) and former coordinator of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), analyzed the panorama of compliance with the decisions of the IACHR, as well as the dialogue of effectiveness with national law.

The third keynote speech was given by Fabián Omar Salvioli, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparations and guarantees of non-repetition, who focused on his studies on the legal value of the pronouncements of international human rights bodies, both in the universal system and in regional protection systems, and which were captured in depth in his latest work 'The Age of Reason'.

As he pointed out: "There are many people who are embezzlers of the Law, because we live in a very complex, complicated time for our democracies. We are in an era of advancing anti-rights discourses, where the basic conquests achieved are called into question."

"Nothing is more like human rights than justice," Salvioli added. And this seminar "is a great success because it is linked to the effective needs of the people. States are not the most important subjects of international law; they will always be the collective and the people."

After this approach from the international perspective, a thematic panel was held on the approach from domestic law to the pronouncements of international bodies for the protection of human rights, with the participation of four prominent jurists: Ramiro Ávila Santamaría, former judge of the Constitutional Court of Ecuador; María de Lourdes Miranda, coordinator of the Master's Degree in Human Rights, Interculturality and Gender at UTE University; Adriana Orocú Chavarría, president of the Latin American Federation of Magistrates; and Danilo Caicedo, director of the School of Judicial Function. The moderator was Rina Pazos, dean of the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences of the UTE.

The purpose of this panel was to analyze how national legal systems, particularly Ecuadorian and others in the region, receive the decisions of international human rights protection bodies and their implications for the guarantee of rights.

The Observatory on Mechanisms for Compliance with Resolutions of Human Rights Bodies, promoted by the International Institute for Social Responsibility and Human Rights (IIRESODH), was also inaugurated. In this regard, Víctor Rodríguez commented that: "Today there are two presidents in this region who are presidents thanks to resolutions of human rights bodies. Petro is President in Colombia by a resolution first of the Inter-American Commission on Precautionary Measures, then the case reaches the Court and somehow it is there by the inter-American system. Lula Da Silva, his case was resolved in his favor by the Human Rights Committee. Those cases shouldn't have made it to the systems, but they did."

And finally, UTE University granted doctors Fabián Salvioli, Silvia Serrano and Víctor Rodríguez the appointment as ad honorem professors, for their important academic and professional contributions to the consolidation of the protection of human rights in the world.

With all this, Rina Pazos, dean of the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, recalled the importance of this type of event "when we live moments where hate speech has arisen, from the academy we must have a positive impact on society."

Contact details:
Johanna Naranjo García
johanna.naranjo@ute.edu.ec

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