Part I State Obligations and Rights Protected, Ch.IV Suspension of Guarantees, Interpretation, and Application, Art.28: Federal Clause

Abstract

This chapter studies Article 28 of the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR). Article 27 of the ACHR specifies the obligations of State Parties that would have a federal constitutional structure under the American Convention. It reflects the principle of international law that the State is perceived by the international legal order as unitary—regardless of how its territory is organized and how power over it is exercised—both in terms of its international obligations and in terms of responsibility for non-compliance. Paragraph 2 specifies that for those rights of the Convention that fall within the competence of the federated entities, the federal entity must “immediately” take measures to ensure that those entities effectively implement the Convention. Meanwhile, Paragraph 3 envisages a different situation: that in which States already party to the Convention would group together in a federation or “other type of association,” such as a confederation, for example, or even an integration organization. In such cases, they must ensure the “continuity” of the application of the ACHR, which raises important questions of international law.