The Proliferation of Dissenting Opinions.Indb
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Cover Page The handle http://hdl.handle.net/1887/123230 holds various files of this Leiden University dissertation. Author: Sarmiento Lamus, A.D. Title: The proliferation of dissenting opinions in international law: A comparative analysis of the exercise of the right to dissent at the ICJ and IACtHR Issue Date: 2020-07-08 The proliferation of dissenting opinions in international law A comparative analysis of the exercise of the right to dissent at the ICJ and the IACtHR 544424-L-bw-Sarmiento 544424-L-bw-Sarmiento The proliferation of dissenting opinions in international law A comparative analysis of the exercise of the right to dissent at the ICJ and the IACtHR PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van Doctor aan de Universiteit Leiden, op gezag van Rector Magnificus prof. mr. C.J.J.M. Stolker, volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties te verdedigen op woensdag 8 juli 2020 klokke 16.15 uur door Andrés Dario Sarmiento Lamus geboren te Bogota, Colombia in 1985 544424-L-bw-Sarmiento Promotoren: Prof. dr. L.J. van den Herik Prof. dr. Y.A.A.S. Radi (Université Chatolique de Louivain) Promotiecommissie: Dr. J. Powderly Dr. G. Le Moli Prof. dr. E. Ferrer MacGregor (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México) Prof. dr. D. Kritsiotis (University of Nottingham, United Kingdom) Lay-out: AlphaZet prepress, Bodegraven Printwerk: Ipskamp Printing © 2020 A.D. Sarmiento Lamus Behoudens de in of krachtens de Auteurswet van 1912 gestelde uitzonderingen mag niets in deze uitgave worden verveelvoudigd, opgeslagen in een geautomatiseerd gegevensbestand of openbaar gemaakt, in enige vorm op enige wijze, hetzij elektronisch, mechanisch, door fotokopieën, opnamen of enige andere manier, zonder voorafgaande schriftelijke toestemming van de uitgever. Het reprorecht wordt niet uitgeoefend. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, made available or communicated to the public, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, unless this is expressly permitted by law. 544424-L-bw-Sarmiento Acknowledgements I principally want to thank and express my most sincere gratitude to my promoters, Prof. dr. Larissa van den Herik and Prof. dr. Yannick Radi. Their thoughtful guidance, advice and patience encouraged me along this journey. Our meetings at uncommon hours were an opportunity to test out and mature my ideas. I sincerely want to thank Ambassador Juan José Quintana, who introduced me to international law and stimulated in me a special interest in the law and practice of the International Court of Justice. Our conversations in Geneva and The Hague during the time I was doing research for the writing of my dissertation, provided me with valuable information from his experience on relevant aspects, for the purposes of this dissertation. Special thanks should also be extended to Prof. dr. Rodrigo Gonzalez Quin- tero, who I consider not only a colleague but friend. Thanks for encouraging me to begin this journey right after my LLM studies and for all the time spent discussing my ideas on the subject of the dissertation and for the unconditional support in the academic life. Thanks should also be extended to the School of Law of Universidad Sergio Arboleda, where I started my academic career and have had the opportunity to write and teach about international law. To the Rector Magnificus, mr. R. Noguera Calderón, and the former Dean of the School of Law, Prof. mr. J.M. del Castillo Abella, for their confidence. Without their funding this journey could not have been possible. To my colleagues, for the several conversa- tions we held on diverse aspects of the law and that made this journey much more enjoyable. Finally, to my family. My parents and my siblings for the unconditional understanding of my constant obsession about only focusing in this journey. To my wife and daughter: Sharon and Bianca. I am profoundly grateful for their love, unconditional support and patience during these years. You were the daily reason that impulse me to conclude this journey. 544424-L-bw-Sarmiento 544424-L-bw-Sarmiento Table of Contents Acknowledgements V Introduction 1 1. The proliferation of dissenting opinions in international law 1 2. Statement of the problem and research aim 5 3. Delineation of the concepts of dissenting opinion and judgment 12 4. Research methodology 19 5. Structure of the dissertation 20 Part I: Framework on the Exercise of the Right to Append Dissenting Opinions 21 Introduction 22 1 The exercise of the right to dissent in domestic jurisdictions 25 1.1. The sin of analogy from municipal law 25 1.2. The relevance of the approaches of civil or continental law systems on dissenting opinions 28 1.3 Origins of dissenting opinions in municipal law 31 1.4 Arguments in favour and against dissenting opinions in municipal law 37 1.5 The relevance of the municipal law debate on dissenting opinions for international law 46 2 The exercise of the right to dissent at international courts and tribunals 49 2.1 The origins of dissenting opinions at international courts and tribunals 50 2.1.1 Dissenting opinions before the institution of the first permanent international adjudicative body 50 2.1.2 Dissenting opinions in the creation of the first permanent adjudicative body: the Permanent Court of International Justice 53 2.1.3 Dissenting opinions in the creation of the International Court of Justice 64 2.1.4 Dissenting opinions in the subsequent creation of international courts and tribunals 66 544424-L-bw-Sarmiento VIII Table of Contents 2.2 Arguments in favour and against dissenting opinions and their effect in the design of dissenting opinions at international courts and tribunals 70 2.2.1 Anonymity in the authorship of dissents 71 2.2.2 Encouragement of unanimous decisions 73 2.2.3 Limits to the content of a dissenting opinion 77 2.3 Some conclusions on the contextual framework on the exercise of the right to append dissenting opinions 79 Part II: The Influence of the Mandate, Jurisdictional and Institutional Design of the International Court of Justice and Inter-American Court of Human Rights on the Exercise of the Right to Append Dissenting Opinions 83 Introduction 84 3 Mandate, jurisdictional and institutional design of the International Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights 85 3.1 Mandate of the International Court of Justice and the Inter- American Court of Human Rights 85 3.1.1 Mandate of the International Court of Justice 85 3.1.2 Mandate of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights 92 3.2 Anatomy of the International Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights 105 3.2.1 Composition of the bench 105 3.2.2 Judges ad hoc and national judges 112 3.2.3 Deliberations and the moment to disclose the content of dissents 121 3.2.4 Scope and publicity of dissenting opinions 126 4 The differences between the International Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court and their influence on the exercise of the right to append dissenting opinions 129 4.1 The judicial function of the International Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and its influence on the right to append dissenting opinions 129 4.1.1 The main function of the International Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the context of the exercise of the right to append dissenting opinions 129 4.1.2 The exercise of the right to append dissenting opinions at the International Court of Justice in the adjudication of human rights cases 143 4.1.3 The development of the law in the exercise of the right to append dissenting opinions 147 544424-L-bw-Sarmiento Table of Contents IX 4.1.4 The exercise of the right to append dissenting opinions in a universal and a regional international court or tribunal 158 4.2 The institutional design of the International Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and its influence on the right to append dissenting opinions 160 4.2.1 The composition of the bench of the International Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and its influence on the right to append dissenting opinions 160 4.2.2 The exercise of the right to append dissenting opinions from national and ad hoc judges 171 4.2.3 The active and passive participation in the drafting of judgments as a source for the exercise of the right to append dissenting opinions and its relation with the majority judgment 180 4.2.4 The scope and publicity of individual opinions in relation to the exercise of the right to append dissents 185 Conclusions 193 Annex 1: List of Judges of the International Court of Justice 199 Annex 2: List of Judges of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights 203 Summary 205 Samenvatting (Summary in Dutch) 209 Bibliography 213 Curriculum Vitae 251 544424-L-bw-Sarmiento 544424-L-bw-Sarmiento Introduction 1. The proliferation of dissenting opinions in international law During the last decades, international law has witnessed the phenomenon of the judicialization of international relations and, relatedly, the prolif- eration of international courts and tribunals.1 The judicial settlement of disputes was previously confined to certain specific fields and actors.2 The changes that took place in the legal practice before, throughout and after the Cold War, however, resulted in an increase in the adjudication of inter- national disputes also beyond the inter-state context. Karen Alter explains that these changes refer to the crystallization of the vision of subordinating power politics to an international rule of law.