88 2011 Quebec Journal of International Law (Special Edition) made”, “ bits-and-pieces” attitude to jurisprudential construction (without being pejorative), from lucky or unlucky “ punches” thrown by actors in the system, and from the intellectual and technical influence which certain judges exercised during their mandates in order to forge this Inter-American jurisprudence which is so strongly tainted by a particular ideology. The Inter-American distinctiveness is the expression of the Inter-American human rights doctrine. To identify it is a complex feat, as it must be recognized that the Inter-American jurisprudence remains theoretically uncertain. Having identified the characteristics, we must now attempt to understand them. In order to achieve this, we must understand the role played by the Inter-American Court, by Inter-American law, and by the relationship between these and other human rights protection systems. Inter-American law is the regional intermediary for the universalism of human rights. Further, the arguments must be explored from the perspective of the development of Inter-American law. We will discuss three themes in this context: exceptionalism, voluntarism, and the new jus gentium.

A. The regional universalism

The institutional perspective invites us to better understand the relationships that the Inter-American Court entertains with other legal systems and especially, but not solely, with other human rights protection mechanisms. It must be noted that, following the example of European States, the American States had decided to draft a regional convention without having anticipated the adoption of a “ universal convention”, which was replaced by the two United Nations covenants. When the international covenants were finally adopted, two questions were asked: first, was it desirable to pursue the adoption of a regional instrument or were the two international covenants sufficient; and second, if the first option was chosen, was the American Convention to be limited to the establishment of a Commission and a Court responsible for the respect of the laws defined in the international covenants or was an American convention with substantially its own content to be drafted? After consultation amongst the States, it was eventually decided that work towards the adoption of an autonomous regional convention, which was compatible with and complementary to the universal system, would continue. 138 The main reason invoked in favour of the establishment of a regional system was the desire to put adequate protection measures in place. Thus, the American Convention was, even before its

138C. A. Dunshee de Abranches, Comparative Study of the United Nations Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and of the Draft Inter-American Conventions on Human Rights, OEA/ Ser. L/ V/ II. 19/ Doc. 18 (1968), also published in the Anuario Interamericano de Derechos Humanos of 1968 (1973) at p. 168. During the preparatory work for the

American Convention, the drafters of the text duly took into consideration the content of the two

International Covenants, and especially of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The stated objective consisted in ensuring the compatibility of the American Convention with universal instruments. This comparative activity was carried out by Mr. Dunshee De Abranches and was the subject of a publication in the form of an official OAS report.