The Exhaustion of Domestic Remedies and the Notion of an Early Stage in the Case of Brewer Carías. Is the Inter-American Human Rights System at Risk?

Abstract

This note analyzes the judgment delivered by the Inter-American Court on Human Rights in the case of Brewer Carías v. Venezuela. It argues that the criteria that allowed the preliminary objection of non-exhaustion of domestic remedies contravenes the precedents of the Inter-American line of case law. By examining the origin and implications of the newly-introduced concept of an “early stage” in domestic proceedings, this note then reaches to the conclusion that it could endanger the accessibility and impact of the Inter-American Human Rights System.