Impeachment before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in light of transconstitutional due process

Abstract

The frequency of impeachment proceedings against political officials in Latin American democracies has fueled public debate on several issues—most notably regarding their legitimacy and potential misuse. Within this context, the complex question of the feasibility of judicial review over such proceedings also emerges. This study examines the possibility of judicial oversight of impeachment decisions issued through political-legal judgment against legitimately elected presidents, within the broader phenomenon of openness and interaction between the Brazilian constitutional system and the Inter-American System for the Protection of Human Rights, under the lens of transconstitutional due process. Based on the theoretical framework of transconstitutionalism, which considers the growing dialogue between international and national legal orders through normative connectors such as openness clauses and the principle of atypicality of fundamental rights, the study argues that judicial review of impeachment proceedings may be plausible—representing a potential transconstitutional issue between domestic and international legal systems—especially in light of contemporary crises facing presidential democracies in Latin America. The methodology employed is qualitative, combining historical-comparative and hypothetical-deductive approaches through bibliographic, documentary, and case law research. The article aims to demonstrate that, although exceptionally, impeachment processes may be subject to judicial review by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights as a necessary step to address procedural or substantive deficiencies in due process.