Domestic Politics and the Effectiveness of Regional Human Rights Courts

Under what conditions are regional human rights courts effective? I argue that in order for regional human rights courts to be effective, they should deter future human rights abuses and this is more likely when the executive adopts and implements rights-respecting policy in response to adverse regional court decisions. When the executive expects the domestic judiciary to implement regional human rights court orders, the executive also expects to face domestic pressure for failing to make policy changes despite domestic judicial implementation of regional court orders. However, the domestic judiciary does not implement regional court orders with equal probability. Domestic judicial power (independence and effectiveness) increases the ability and willingness of the domestic judiciary to implement regional court orders, and subsequently increases the likelihood that the executive adopts and implements comprehensive human rights policy. Using data on adverse judgments from the European and Inter-American Courts of Human Rights, I find that regional human rights courts are more likely to be effective in the presence of a strong domestic judiciary.