This work is the result of the conference ‘Chile and The Inter-American System of Human Rights’ held at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies of the University of London in May of 2015. The main objective pursued by the conference was to reflect the relationship between Chile and the Inter-American Human Rights System focusing on an interdisciplinary and detailed examination of the consequences or incidences of the most recent cases decided by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (hereinafter ‘IACtHR’ or ‘the Court’) against the Chilean state, namely; (a) Case of Atala Riffo and daughters v. Chile, (b) Case of García Lucero et al. v. Chile, and (c) Case of Norín Catrimán et al. (Leaders, members and activist of the Mapuche Indigenous People) v. Chile.
The Chilean cases decided by the IAHRS illustrate central challenges in the areas of LGBT rights, Torture and Indigenous Rights in Chile, but also in the Americas as a whole. The three selected cases reflect on the importance of the IAHRS, and the opportunities incentives and networks that have allowed the rise of judicial activism at the local and transnational level. These cases are also representative of the increasing judicial developments of the IAHRS and the repercussions they have had at the national level, influencing for example the decisions of the judicial branch and generating vis-à-vis influences and opportunities to mobilise judicial resources.