168 Nyman-Metcalf and Papageorgiou/Implementation of rulings by regional courts juridictions, l’article conclut que les juridictions régionaux ne peuvent pas remplacer les juridictions nationales dans la protection des citoyens mais que le contrôle judiciaire régional de l’état de droit dans les régions où il y des démocraties fragiles renforcement utilement la protection nationale en fixant des limites aux Etats et en sensibilisant les citoyens sur leurs droits. L’article démontre ainsi comment les tribunaux régionaux peuvent avoir un impact significatif sur la protection des droits de l’homme, tout en soulignant le risque que ces juridictions perdent en légitimité si leurs décisions ne sont pas appliquées, créant ainsi un cercle vicieux: si les décisions ne sont pas appliquées, les juridictions seront sous-utilisées, réduisant davantage le respect et ainsi de suite. L’article plaide enfin pour un engagement fort des Etats et une légitimité accrue des systèmes régionaux, en se concentrant spécifiquement sur le rôle des tribunaux, et contribue ainsi au débat sur la manière d’améliorer l’impact des systèmes régionaux de protection des droits de l’homme. KEY WORDS: regional integration, Africa, the Americas, human rights, regional courts; enforcement CONTENT: 1 2 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 168 Regional integration and courts of justice ........................................................... 169 Europe................................................................................................................... 169 Africa......................................................................................................................172 The Americas ........................................................................................................ 177 3 Enforcement ................................................................................................ 183 3.1 Background........................................................................................................... 183 3.2 Obeying or not obeying rules – that is the question ............................................ 183 3.3 The rights of the individual .................................................................................. 185 4 Improving enforcement............................................................................... 187 5 Concluding remarks ................................................................................................. 189 1 2.1 2.2 2.3 INTRODUCTION For the past several decades, we have witnessed an increasing ‘regionalization’ of human rights protection, evidenced by the proliferation of regional human rights instruments and the establishment of judicial or quasi-judicial mechanisms for the promotion and protection of human rights in several regional integration systems. This takes place at the level of continent-wide human rights organs as well as via courts of sub-regional integration organisations. Although Europe is the continent with the oldest and furthest reaching integration in the shape of the European Union (EU), as well as the oldest human rights court, the European Court of Human Rights, recent developments in, especially, Africa and South and Central America are dynamic. These regions provide interesting examples of the impact of regional systems, often projected against a background of less than perfect democratic systems in their member states. Regional human rights courts can provide support for organs within states in ongoing processes of democratisation and improved protection of rights, where different national bodies may be pulling in different directions. We also see how the interaction between subregional and continent-wide organisations creates a dynamic for the protection of rights, often despite that the relationship between subregional and continent-wide bodies is not specified. Regional courts show a variety of competences. At times, their powers appear surprisingly wide, in particular given that the level of integration within the regional system in question may not be so high.