During 2015, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued sixteen judgments in contentious cases and two interpretations of previous judgments that covered a wide variety of salient issues for the Inter-American System of Human Rights. The first case selected for this edition of the Yearbook deals with the obligations of states dealing with terrorist threats in the midst of internal armed conflict. The other three cases selected deal with the obligations of states in peacetime: specifically, the obligation to supervise private health providers, particularly when they carry out public functions, the obligation to protect the lives and integrity of women against gender-based violence, and the obligation to guarantee the collective property rights of indigenous peoples while also ensuring the conservation of natural resources. These cases are consistent with the Inter-American Court's vast jurisprudence regarding states' duty to guarantee the rights of persons who are particularly vulnerable to human rights abuses.
President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
