PRESENTATION OF THE SYMPOSIUM

Abstract

The Andean Tribunal of Justice (ATJ) can be contested for a number of reasons, including but not limited to the low status and importance given to public international law in Andean community law. Judicial decisions such as Proceso 28-AI-2001, Proceso 117-AI-2003 and Proceso 118-AI-2003 have induced legal observers to maintain that the ATJ is developing a less inclusive approach toward international legal rules and instruments. This raises some interesting and timely questions, such as: has a “revirement de jurisprudence” occurred? And if there is a “revirement” or reversal, is this “revirement” attributable to an alternative approach of the ATJ towards public international law? What issues might have determined the recent rulings of the ATJ? This paper aims to address these queries. It examines the ATJ’s recent judicial decisions dealing with public international law, contrasts them with earlier rulings and collocates them in the wider framework of the Tribunal’s overall understanding of the Andean community legal system.