Part I State Obligations and Rights Protected, Ch.II Civil and Political Rights, Art.3: Right to Juridical Personality

This chapter investigates Article 3 of the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR), which protects the right to recognition of every person as a person before the law. Such recognition is of importance to operate the legal distinction between a legal object and a legal subject. The importance of the right can be deduced from the fact that Article 3 is located at the opening of the ACHR, just before the protection of the right to life (Article 4) and the right to human treatment (Article 5). Moreover, Article 3 is protected against suspension in the event of emergencies, as stipulated in Article 27 of the ACHR. The right to juridical personality is therefore non-derogable under the American Convention. In addition, Article 3 has a close relationship with other rights enshrined by the Convention, such as the prohibition of slavery (Article 6), equality before the law (Article 24), and, more generally, the non-discrimination guaranteed by Article 1-1 of the ACHR. Though non-derogable, the inter-American case law regarding Article 3 is rather modest.