Abstract
During its more than three decades of history, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has been consolidated as a fundamental instance for the protection of human rights in the continent. It has been an instance for the relief of hundreds of victims of human rights, and a promoter of important changes within Latin-America. Indubitable, the Inter-American Court has become a regional and international referent for the protection of human rights. However, in spite of all the developments, the Court and in general the Inter-American system of human rights still face the strong resistance and opposition from several States. Until now, the region still has 10 countries which have never ratified the ACHR, whereas from the 25 countries that have adopted the ACHR, 2 have already denounced it, 3 have never recognized the contentious jurisdiction of the Court, and 1 more attempted to withdraw that recognition. Now, it seems that we can add the Dominican Republic to the list. Its Constitutional Tribunal, through the judgment TC/0256/14 of November 2014, ruled that the Instrument through which the Dominican State recognized the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court breaches provisions of its National Constitution. This situation has been interpreted as the withdrawal of the Dominican Republic from the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court. The purpose of the present thesis is to analyze the possible Dominican withdrawal from the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court. Firstly, I will analyze the context under which the Constitutional judgment was decided in order to know the reasons that motivated the decision. Next, I will analyze whether the Dominican withdrawal, based on the Constitutional judgment, would comply with international law, Inter-American law, and Dominican law. Finally, I will analyze the possible implications of the Dominican withdrawal for the protection of human rights, for the Inter-American human rights system, and for the government of the Dominican Republic, if any.