The Role of the Secretariat in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights: A Comparative Analysis

In “Who Guards the ‘Guardians of the System’? The Role of the Secretariat in WTO Dispute Settlement,”1 Joost Pauwelyn and Krzysztof Pelc argue that the Secretariat of the World Trade Organization (WTO Secretariat) has more influence over dispute resolution than the staff of any comparable tribunal. This influence is the result of the institutional design of the WTO, but also of unexpected factors that extended the mandate of the WTO Secretariat beyond what was originally conceived. The authors claim that this influence has brought benefits but has also raised questions of legitimacy and accountability. It has also had unintended––and not necessarily positive––legal effects. In this Essay, I offer a comparative view of the Secretariat of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (the IACtHR Secretariat). I first wish to complement Pauwelyn and Pelc's analysis and provide another point of reference to understand the degree of influence that the WTO Secretariat has over dispute resolution. Second, I wish to provide some comparative insights as to the benefits and challenges that come with the existence of a permanent Secretariat playing a pivotal role within international judicial or quasi-judicial systems.