CALVO DOCTRINE, CALVO CLAUSE

Abstract

This chapter presents an overview of the Calvo doctrine and Calvo clause. The Calvo doctrine stands out among the traditional Latin American efforts to prevent abuses of the right of diplomatic protection of citizens abroad. The doctrine embodied the Latin American version of the principle of equality between nationals and aliens, and was enunciated as a reaction to the abusive exercise of the right of diplomatic protection of citizens abroad. The doctrine postulated the standard of equal treatment for measuring State responsibility in lieu of the so-called minimum international standard. The Calvo doctrine, whose only function was to prevent the abuse of the right of diplomatic protection, was never a bar to those international claims based on breaches of well-established international obligations regarding the treatment of aliens. Even in one of its most far-reaching formulations, such as that of the widely known Guerrero Report prepared for the League of Nations, the international responsibility of States for injuries resulting from an act or omission constituting a breach was never questioned.