Between Implied Rights and Natural Rights: The Inter-American Court of Human Rights and Non-Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation in the Atala Case

Abstract

In this paper we make a brief comparison of the arguments of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to establish an alleged implied right to non-discrimination based on sexual orientation in the Atala case and the arguments that natural law may use to postulate “subsequent” natural rights as human rights not positively presented in an authoritative manner based on human nature. In this sense, we will not review or systematically refute the presuppositions, arguments or general conclusions of the judgment used as an example. The parallel offered will allow us to demonstrate some of the theoretical advantages of an approach from natural law that recognizes in human nature the primordial normative criterion of the establishment of human rights without disregarding the strength of the positive dimension of law.