Arguing cases before international human rights 18. protection systems
Trade unions can also use international labour standards and the pronouncements of the ILO supervisory bodies in the pleadings of cases to be submitted to the other systems of international human rights protection, such as the universal system of the United Nations or the regional systems, including the interAmerican human rights system. There is an intrinsic complementarity and mutual reinforcement between the ILO and the inter-American human rights system. The organs of the interAmerican system base their decisions on labour and trade union matters on the principles and decisions of the ILO supervisory bodies. The validity of the interpretation made by the ILO supervisory bodies is accepted and recognized by the inter-American human rights system. In this regard, the Inter-American Court states that "In order to reach conclusions on whether the State violated the right to freedom of association, the Court takes particular account of the statements contained in the Commission's application, the evidence in the file and the recommendations of the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association.”73
The principles and decisions of the ILO supervisory bodies have been incorporated into the inter-American standards established by the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights in its contentious jurisdiction and non-contentious or consultative jurisdiction. The inter-American standards "strengthen the validity of the human rights guaranteed by the American Convention in all the States of the hemisphere, since the international protection of human rights finds direct application in the domestic sphere.”74 The incorporation of inter-American standards into domestic law is related to the obligation of "control of conventionality", by virtue of which the organs of the State and, in particular, the domestic judges must verify the compatibility of the norms and acts that they must analyze with respect to the American Convention and with the interpretation that the Inter-American Court makes of it,75 in its role as final interpreter. The following are some examples of judgments of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights where international labour standards and principles established by the ILO supervisory bodies have been used.
73. Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Case of Baena Ricardo v. Panama. Sentence February 2, 2001, paragraph 171. 74. Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Annual Report 2010, p. 55. 75. Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Advisory Opinion OC-21/14, August 19, 2014.
PRACTICAL GUIDE TO TRADE UNION ACTION AT THE ILO
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