Firstly, a belated happy near year to all our Monitor readers!
In this first post of the year, I wanted to highlight something that I hope many readers have already read- the recently released Joint Law Report 2019. The Joint Law Report is a new venture from the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Inter-American Court of Human Rights and European Court of Human Rights. This product is exactly what it sounds like; a review of the most important 2019 cases from the African Court, Inter-American Court and European Court. In and of itself, this report is notable as the first of its kind, providing rich pickings for legal practitioners, activists and researchers who can use it to quickly review and understand case law from 2019 across three regional human rights courts.
But over and above the Joint Law Report’s obvious use, I wanted to recognise the cooperation required for a product like this. Put simply, cooperation across three courts, especially the first one, is hard. This is a great sign of a burgeoning recognition between regional human rights courts that they are going to be most effective when they work together. Rather than operating in self-contained silos, these courts, not only referencing each other’s case law, but perhaps equally as importantly talking to each other outside the confines of judicial decision making should not only be welcomed but encouraged. The more these courts talk to each other, the more they can explore and share concerns, difficulties and issues. This can in turn improve their work, ultimately leading to better human rights protection for everyone under the jurisdiction of the three courts. I hope this becomes an annual product, not only assisting in disseminating leading caselaw, but keeping the courts talking.
You can find the report here
