CATALOGUE OF TOPICS ON CHILDREN’S RIGHTS: COMMONPLACES IN THE JURISPRUDENCE OF THE INTER AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS - DOI: 10.12818/P.0304-2340.2025v86p305

Abstract

This article analyses the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR)
in order to determine the functionality of the topics —catalogue of topics— commonly used by
the Court to elaborate its arguments in cases affecting children’s rights. To this end, a search was
carried out in the Court’s database between 1999 and 2023 to identify judgments that refer to
children’s rights and the use of a catalogue of topics in relation to a set of problems. Regarding the
relevance of these special topics in the arguments produced, it is observed that the IACHR uses
them to describe the protection measures aimed at this group of people —response of the Inter-
American legal system— as well as to offer a structure that allows for the understanding and study
of children’s rights in its jurisprudence.

KEYWORDS: Rights of the child. Jurisprudence. Legal argumentation. Inter-American Court of
Human Rights.