Website of MERCOSUR, the Southern Common Market, a South American trading bloc which includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela and Bolivia. The Treaty of Asunción 1991 and the Protocol of Ouro Preto 1994, the establishing treaties, are given on the site along with documents of MERCOSUR bodies - meeting minutes, reports, regulations and trade statistics. The site can be viewed in Spanish, Portuguese and English although information in English is limited.
This part of the Andean Community (CAN) website gives access to the Community’s laws and decisions. CAN is an international organisation, set up in 1969 by the Cartagena Agreement, that established a free trade area between Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. CAN conventions, treaties and official gazettes can be viewed in full text along with decisions and opinions of the Andean Commission. Minutes of the Andean Presidential Council meetings are also given. The site can be viewed in Spanish only.
Website of the Court of Justice of the Andean Community (ECJCA) which settles disputes between Andean Community member states arising under Andean Community law and ensures the law is applied uniformly. Cases heard by the Court include infringement, action for annulment, labour lawsuits and arbitration claims. Case summaries and profiles of the judges are given on the site which can be viewed in Spanish only.
Online article providing an introduction to judicial power and the court systems in Latin America written by Gloria Orrego Hoyos who is Professor of Law and Legal Research at the Universidad de San Andrés and Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires. The guide was published in 2021 on the Globalex website and made freely available by the Hauser Global Law School Program at the New York University School of Law. The author provides an overview to judicial power in the region, the constitutional courts and the court system in each country along with links to relevant resources.
The Constituciones Hispanoamericas website provides free online access to Spanish constitutions (both current and historical) and those of Latin American countries. The site forms part of the Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes digital library which is hosted by the University of Alicante in Spain. As well as the catalogue of constitutions and related documents there is background and historical information on Spanish and Latin American constitutionalism and a page of related web links. The site is available in Spanish only.
Online article looking at constitutional law developments in Latin America written by Dante Figueroa who is a Senior Legal Information Analyst at the Law Library of Congress and an Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown University Law Center and Jonathan Arendtwho is a Senior Associate at Albagli Zaliasnik Law Firm. The guide was published in 2016 (and updated in 2021) on the Globalex Website and made freely available by the Hauser Global Law School Program at the New York University School of Law.
Searchable summaries of Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) decisions, in English. Detailed summaries are available for some cases, covering the facts, procedural history, merits, and state compliance with the judgment; for other cases only a short abstract is provided. The database can be searched by case name, country, topic, treaty article and other criteria. It is an initiative of Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. (For full IACHR judgments, in Spanish, see the Court’s own website.)
The Latin American Government Documents Archive (LAGDA) is one of several resources managed by the Latin American Web Archiving Project, which is based at the University of Texas Libraries. Its aim is to preserve and make available archives of websites from the governments of 18 Latin American countries. The archived sites include documents and video and audio recordings. The records available start in 2005-6 and the project is ongoing. The materials can be selected from a list according to jurisdiction and government department and can also be searched by keywords.
A non governmental project maintained by the Center for Latin American Studies at Georgetown University, USA in collaboration with other bodies. It was started in 1995. A principal feature of the site is a study of the constitutions of the Latin American countries, with the full text of the relevant Constitution. For each country suggestions are made of additional supporting literature but only the bibliographical information is available. There is also background information about other topics including the electoral system and political parties of the countries.
Online guide to Latin American law written by Teresa Miguel who is the author of several books and articles and was a public defender between 1994 and 2002. The guide was published in 2010 (and updated in 2022) on the Globalex website and made freely available by the Hauser Global Law School Program at the New York University School of Law. The author gives an introduction to the legal systems of Latin American jurisdictions and provides annotated links to useful web resources for finding the law of Latin American countries and the international law of Latin America.
