Includes bibliographic references and index.

1: Introduction: Rethinking the Impact of the Inter-American Human Rights System -- 2: Mobilising the Inter-American Human Rights System: Regional Litigation and Domestic Human Rights Impact in Latin America -- 3: Friendly Settlements in the Inter-American Human Rights System: Efficiency, Effectiveness and Scope -- 4: The Impact of Precautionary Measures on Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas -- 5: From Compliance to Engagement: Assessing the Impact of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on Constitutional Law in Latin America -- 6: Institutional Empowerment and Progressive Policy Reforms: The Impact of the Inter-American Human Rights System on Intra-State Conflicts -- 7: Bridging the Gap: National Human Rights Institutions and the Inter-American Human Rights System -- 8: Transnational Activism and Coalitions of Domestic Interest Groups: Reflections on the Case of Brazil -- 9: Transitional Justice and the Inter-American Human Rights System in Peru: The Role of Anti- and Pro-Compliance Constituencies -- 10: Impact of the IAHRS in the Fight against Impunity for Past Crimes in El Salvador and Guatemala -- 11: The Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Effects of Overlapping Institutions: A Preliminary Study -- 12: Impact in the African and Inter-American Human Rights Systems: A Perspective on the Possibilities and Challenges of Cross-Regional Comparison.

This book critically examines the impact of the Inter-American Human Rights System (IAHRS). Going beyond traditional state compliance models of human rights impact, it develops a contextual understanding of how the IAHRS shapes political struggles between actors and institutions seeking to advance the realization of human rights and those who resist such social and political change. Par Engstrom is Senior Lecturer in Human Rights at the Institute of the Americas, University College, UK, and the academic coordinator of the International Network on the Inter-American Human Rights System.