Legal institutional effectiveness of exhortative judgments of the Plurinational Constitutional Court in the protection of human rights
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63688/619gsp06Keywords:
constitutional justice, exhortative judgments, judicial compliance, human rights, Plurinational Constitutional CourtAbstract
Introduction: Exhortative judgments allow constitutional courts to guide public authorities when institutional practices are incompatible with constitutional standards and human rights. Their effectiveness, however, depends on linking the legal authority of the decision with institutional conditions for implementation and monitoring. Objective: To analyze the legal and institutional effectiveness of exhortative judgments issued by the Plurinational Constitutional Court of Bolivia, considering the relationship between binding force, operational design, enforcement, monitoring, and effective human rights protection. Methods: A qualitative, legal-documentary, and comparative study was conducted through normative, jurisprudential, and institutional analysis. The Bolivian constitutional and procedural framework was examined and contrasted with contemporary developments concerning structural remedies, dialogic constitutionalism, and judicial supervision in Latin America and the Inter-American Human Rights System. Results: A substantive distinction was identified between binding legal force and institutional monitoring capacity. Although Bolivia has mechanisms to enforce constitutional decisions, it does not establish a specialized and continuous phase for monitoring exhortations with institutional or structural implications. Conclusions: The effectiveness of these judgments requires operational exhortations, identifiable responsible authorities, reasonable deadlines, compliance information, proportional monitoring, and verifiable closure mechanisms.
Downloads
References
Auz, J. (2024). The political ecology of climate remedies in Latin America and the Caribbean: Comparing compliance between national and Inter-American litigation. Journal of Human Rights Practice, 16(1), 182–207. https://doi.org/10.1093/jhuman/huad057
Bailliet, C. M. (2021). Procedure for monitoring compliance with judgments and other decisions: Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR). In Max Planck encyclopedia of international procedural law. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/law-mpeipro/e2653.013.2653
Castro Zambrano, M. C., Lara Ferrín, N. S., & Farfán Pinoargote, D. F. (2024). The unenforceability of Inter-American Court of Human Rights judgments in the Ecuadorian constitutional context. Derecho Global. Estudios sobre Derecho y Justicia, 9(27), 389–413. https://doi.org/10.32870/dgedj.v9i27.756
Dixon, R. (2024). The new responsive constitutionalism. The Modern Law Review, 87(4), 799–832. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2230.12853
Dixon, R., & Yap, P. J. (2025). Responsive judicial remedies. Global Constitutionalism, 14(2), 323–348. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2045381724000200
Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia. (2009). Constitución Política del Estado. Gaceta Oficial del Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia.
Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia. (2012). Ley N.º 254, Código Procesal Constitucional. Gaceta Oficial del Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia.
Gallardo-Ruiz, K. F., Ruiz-Falconi, O. V., & Ruiz-Falconi, M. (2024). Índice de (in)cumplimiento de las medidas de reparación ordenadas por la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos al Estado ecuatoriano. Kairós, 7(12), 140–163. https://doi.org/10.37135/kai.03.12.08
Gargarella, R. (2021). Dialogic constitutionalism in defective democracies. In A. Linares-Cantillo, C. Valdivieso-León, & S. García-Jaramillo (Eds.), Constitutionalism: Old dilemmas, new insights (pp. 71–101). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192896759.003.0004
Haglund, J., & Parente, F. (2025). The price of justice: Compliance and damages awarded by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Journal of Law and Courts, 13(1), 326–349. https://doi.org/10.1017/jlc.2024.28
Iglesias Vila, M. (2021). ¿Conduce el constitucionalismo dialógico a cuestionar el fallo de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos en el caso Gelman? Revista Derecho del Estado, (49), 91–110. https://doi.org/10.18601/01229893.n49.06
Landau, D. (2021). The Colombian model of structural socio-economic rights remedies: Lessons from and for comparative experience. In A. Linares-Cantillo, C. Valdivieso-León, & S. García-Jaramillo (Eds.), Constitutionalism: Old dilemmas, new insights (pp. 258–274). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192896759.003.0013
Martinez, M. (2023). Does the Inter-American Court of Human Rights affect the development of human rights norms in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala? International Studies, 60(1), 91–112. https://doi.org/10.1177/00208817231154385
Maués, A. M., Magalhães, B. B., Nassar, P. A., & Sena, R. (2021). Judicial dialogue between national courts and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights: A comparative study of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. Human Rights Law Review, 21(1), 108–131. https://doi.org/10.1093/hrlr/ngaa047
Mazini, P. G. (2022). Structural injunctions: Origin, relevant leading cases in Latin America and reflections on Brazilian procedural system. Revista da Faculdade de Direito, Universidade de São Paulo, 117, 527–550. https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2318-8235.v117p527-550
Mukherjee, G. (2023). The political economy of effective judicial remedies. International Journal of Constitutional Law, 21(3), 921–936. https://doi.org/10.1093/icon/moad061
Ovares Sánchez, C. (2021). El constitucionalismo dialógico, la consulta legislativa previa y el caso de Costa Rica. Revista Derecho del Estado, (49), 215–240. https://doi.org/10.18601/01229893.n49.12
Parente, F. (2025). Domestic accountability and non-compliance with international law: Evidence from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Journal of Peace Research, 62(1), 119–133. https://doi.org/10.1177/00223433231200924
Pereira, G. (2022). Judges as equilibrists: Explaining judicial activism in Latin America. International Journal of Constitutional Law, 20(2), 696–732. https://doi.org/10.1093/icon/moac044
Puga, M. G. (2025). Litigios estructurales en América Latina. Anuario Iberoamericano de Justicia Constitucional, 29(2), 141–170. https://doi.org/10.18042/cepc/aijc.29.2.05
Pérez, E. (2026). Assessing the IACtHR’s normative and democratic legitimacy to issue structural remedies in climate change cases. Transnational Legal Theory, 17(1), 126–157. https://doi.org/10.1080/20414005.2026.2650936
Rodríguez-Peñaranda, M. L. (2023). Constitucionalismo dialógico y justicia constitucional: Una vuelta larga para volver a las virtudes deliberativas de la Acción Pública de Inconstitucionalidad. Revista CS, (40), 249–286. https://doi.org/10.18046/recs.i40.5672
Vela Ávalos, M. A. (2022). Justicia dialógica en una ingeniería constitucional resistente al constitucionalismo dialógico: El caso de El Salvador. Anuario Iberoamericano de Justicia Constitucional, 26(1), 181–211. https://doi.org/10.18042/cepc/aijc.26.07
Villalonga, C. (2024). Redrafting imperfect legislation: Structural judgments and judicial supervision of administrative enforcement in Latin America. Oñati Socio-Legal Series, 14(6), 1792–1819. https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/1909
Vitale, D. (2022). The relational impact of social rights judgments: A trust-based analysis. Legal Studies, 42(3), 408–424. https://doi.org/10.1017/lst.2021.57
Wang, D. W. L. (2025). Selective judicial assertiveness in the control of administrative underreach during a health crisis: The case of the Supreme Court of Brazil. German Law Journal, 26(9), 1697–1717. https://doi.org/10.1017/glj.2026.10205
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Eberth Almendras Enriquez (Autor/a)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Los artículos publicados en la revista se distribuyen bajo la licencia Creative Commons Atribución 4.0 Internacional (CC BY 4.0). Esta licencia permite a terceros descargar, copiar, distribuir, adaptar y reutilizar una obra, incluso con fines comerciales, siempre que se otorgue el crédito adecuado al autor original.