Clean hands and a pure heart?
The application of the clean hands doctrine by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Keywords:
clean hands doctrine, transitional justice, reparations, moral damages, Inter-American Court of Human RightsAbstract
This paper provides an analysis of the practice of the Inter American Human Rights Court (“IACrtHR”) with regards to the “clean hands” doctrine and its legitimacy. The paper argues that a “clean hands” approach to compensation for moral damages in human rights cases is inadmissible. Its use is even more questionable given that IACrtHR has not provided an explanation for its decisions to withhold reparations for moral damages only from some wrongdoers. The paper will review cases where the IACrtHR has and has not awarded monetary compensation for moral damages to highlight its inconsistent jurisprudence, and the lack of clear decisive criteria. I will conclude that the IACrtHR has applied the “clean hands” doctrine without explicitly stating so, and that this is not compatible with international human rights law.
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