The evolving relationship between international human rights law and criminal law is marked by a passage from a role of moderation to one of legitimization. While international human rights law was previously critical of criminal law as an instrument of state repression, the last few decades witnessed a shift towards a victim-centred conception of criminal law as a means to protect and enforce certain human rights. This contrasts with a liberal conception of human rights as a check on the power of the state through the use of its criminal law authority. This development manifests itself through what may be dubbed the "criminalization” of Inter-American human rights law. This contribution explores this phenomenon of “criminalization” and its various illustrations, particularly through the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ discourse with respect to amnesty laws and prescr...

El desarrollo de las relaciones entre el Derecho Internacional de los Derechos Humanos y el Derecho Penal está signado por una función de moderación hacia una de legitimación/ justificación de la aplicación del Derecho Penal. Mientras los Derechos Humanos inicialmente fueron críticos del Derecho Penal, como instrumento de represión estatal; las últimas décadas atestiguan un giro hacia una conceptualización del Derecho Penal centrado en la víctima, como medio para proteger y resguardar determinados derechos humanos. Este giro desafía la perspectiva liberal que concibe los derechos humanos como un mecanismo de control ante el poder estatal y que se ejerce mediante el Derecho Penal. Este desarrollo se manifiesta a través de lo que podría ser denominado la “penalización" de la jurisprudencia de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos. Este trabajo contribuye a...

The evolving relationship between international human rights law and criminal law is marked by a passage from a role of moderation to one of legitimization. While international human rights law was previously critical of criminal law as an instrument of state repression, the last few decades witnessed a shift towards a victim-centred conception of criminal law as a means to protect and enforce certain human rights. This contrasts with a liberal conception of human rights as a check on the power of the state through the use of its criminal law authority. This development manifests itself through what may be dubbed the "criminalization” of Inter-American human rights law. This contribution explores this phenomenon of “criminalization” and its various illustrations, particularly through the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ discourse with respect to amnesty laws and prescr...