The Second Annual Inter-American Human Rights Moot Court Competition was held from May 19 - 23, 1997. WCL was honored to have Dr. Carlos Reina, President of Honduras and Past President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights serve as Presiding Judge during the Final Round of the Competition. Twenty-four teams from 12 countries argued the hypothetical case of Cecilia Herold, et al. v. The State of Pacifica.* The hypothetical involved issues for which there is little case law within the Inter-American System and was written by Elizabeth Abi-Mershed, an Attorney Specialist in Human Rights at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
In the Herold case, the petitioners are three women who formed a political party with the stated goal of increasing the political involvement of all citizens, particularly women, seeking a more equitable distribution of tax revenues, and rooting out corruption in local government. This party challenged the established power-structure, that placed political control in the hands of male landowners, and as a result, the women suffered harassment and discrimination that eventually escalated to include a mugging and assault, a break-in at the party's offices, and the sexual assault of Cecilia Herold.
Because there was limited evidence of direct state involvement, the case focused on whether the crimes of private individuals could be imputed to the State of Pacifica if it failed in its duty under Article 1.1 of the American Convention to ensure all persons the free and full exercise of the rights guaranteed by the Convention. The case looked at the ineffectual efforts of the local police to protect the women from these crimes or to adequately investigate and prosecute the crimes after they occurred.
Of particular concern in this case is the law in Pacifica that requiring a state doctor to examine every alleged rape victim in order for the perpetrator to be prosecuted. In this case, the state doctor was unavailable for 32 hours, and as a result, test results were inconclusive, and the prosecutor determined that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the alleged perpetrators. Petitioners alleged that the law, and particularly its application in this case, violated their right to judicial protection under Articles 8 and 25. The issues in this case, for the most part, remain unsettled within the jurisprudence of the Inter-American System and provided for a spirited competition.
In addition to the competition, the participants took part in a seminar entitled "Presenting a Petition Before the Inter-American System for the Protection of Human Rights," including an introduction and discussion with Jorge Taiana, Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
The judges for the Preliminary and Semi-Final Rounds of the Competition included distinguished human rights practitioners and scholars. President Reina led the Honor Panel of Judges that also included Ambassador Carmen Moreno de Del Cueto, Mexican Mission of the Organization of American States (OAS); Ambassador Brian Dickson, Q.C., Permanent Mission of Canada; Ambassador John Donaldson, President, Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR); WCL's Dean Claudio Grossman, Member, IACHR; WCL Professor Robert Goldman, Second Vice-President, IACHR; Ambassador Alicia Martinez Rios, Permanent Mission of Argentina; Ambassador Sonia Picado Sotela, Costa Rica; Judge Vanessa Ruiz, Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C.; Judge Andrew Sonner, Maryland Court of Special Appeals; Ambassador Christopher Thomas, Assistant Secretary General of the OAS; Jose Miguel Vivanco, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch/Americas; and Professor Leo Zwaak, Netherlands Human Rights Institute.
The two teams that successfully navigated their way into the Final Round were Universidad Nacional de Túcuman and Universidad Nacional de La Plata, both of Argentina. Túcuman was represented by Aldo Frederico Calliari and Maria Elisa Gallo, and argued on behalf of Petitioners. La Plata was represented by María Isabel Ricciardi and Pablo Trevisan, and argued for the State. Túcuman won first place honors as well as Best Memorial. Calliari of Túcuman won Best Oralist.
The coordinators of the competition were pleased to see several people who participated last year return to D.C. this year as either competitors or coaches. They hope to see many of this year's participants again next year for the Third Annual Inter-American Moot Court Competition.
* For the full text of the 1996 hypothetical, see the Inter-American Human Rights Moot Court Competition Internet site at
http://www.wcl.american.edu/pub/humright/mcourt/mcourt.html.
© Copyright 1997 The Human Rights Brief
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