The Latin American Casebook: Courts, Constitutions, and Rights

Traditionally relegated because of political pressure and public expectations, courts in Latin America are increasingly asserting a stronger role in public and political discussions. This casebook takes account of this phenomenon, by offering a rigorous and up-to-date discussion of constitutional adjudication in Latin America in recent decades. Bringing to the forefront the development of constitutional law by Latin American courts in various subject matters, the volume aims to highlight a host of creative arguments and solutions that judges in the region have offered.

The authors review and discuss innovative case law in light of the countries’ social, political and legal context. Each chapter is devoted to a discussion of a particular area of judicial review, from freedom of expression to social and economic rights, from the internalization of human rights law to judicial checks on the economy, from gender and reproductive rights to transitional justice. The book thus provides a very useful tool to scholars, students and litigants alike.

Juan González-Bertomeu is Assistant Professor of Law at Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM). He specializes in constitutional law, constitutional adjudication, empirical studies, and legal theory. He received his first law degree from Universidad Nacional de La Plata (1999), and obtained an LL.M. degree (2003) and a J.S.D. degree (2012) at NYU. Between 2004 and 2007, he worked for Asociación por los Derechos Civiles (ADC), a leading NGO based in Buenos Aires devoted to civil rights protection, strategic litigation, and justice reform. Mr. Gonzalez Bertomeu has taught constitutional law and legal philosophy at Universidad de Palermo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Universidad de San Andrés and Universidad de Buenos Aires.

Roberto Gargarella is currently Professor of Constitutional Law, Universidad de Buenos Aires, since 1998, and Professor of Constitutional Law and Legal Philosophy, Universidad Di Tella, since 1995. He has also been Visiting Researcher at Harvard University (2010), Visiting Professor at Columbia University (2003, 2007-8), Central European University (2007), University of Bergen (2005), and Universidad Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, (1993-9). He has won numerous awards, including: Tinker Scholarship (2007), First Prize, National Contest of Essays, organized by Argentina’s Supreme Court (2007), Fulbright Scholarship (2006), Harry Frank Guggenheim Fellow (2002-2003) and John Simon Guggenheim Fellow (1999-2000).