December 13, 2025, MPIL Heidelberg

As part of the closing session of the XX International Seminar “Democracy in Transformation: Tools for Resilience”, three collective volumes were presented. In this context, the recent ICCAL publications expanded and deepened the debates addressed throughout the event. Developed from the perspective of the Ius Constitutionale Commune in Latin America, they offer complementary approaches to current challenges facing regional constitutionalism.

Autocratization and human rights in Venezuela

The programme included the presentation of The Response of the Ius Constitutionale Commune to Autocratization: The Case of Venezuela. This collective volume analyses the process of autocratization in Venezuela and its impact on human rights and fundamental freedoms. In particular, it proposes ICCAL as a normative and analytical framework to understand authoritarian dynamics and to explore legal pathways towards democratic transition at both national and international levels.

Moreover, the book examines institutional capture, the persecution of civil society, and the erosion of the rule of law. These dynamics became more pronounced following the electoral process of July 2024.

A healthy environment and climate justice as a common legal language

The presentation also featured Building a Ius Commune of the Right to a Healthy Environment and Climate Justice, edited by Armin von Bogdandy and Mariela Morales Antoniazzi. This volume reconstructs how, in Latin America, a shared legal language has gradually emerged around the right to a healthy environment and climate justice.

Across thirteen chapters, the book analyses the role of the Inter-American Human Rights System, climate litigation, and the interaction between courts, academia, and other actors, highlighting the transformative potential of law in the face of the climate emergency.

Constitutional jurisdiction in a comparative perspective

The session concluded with the presentation of Constitutional Jurisdiction in Latin America. Cross-cutting Approaches from the Ius Constitutionale Commune. Volume II, a work that offers a transversal and comparative analysis of constitutional jurisdiction in the region. The volume highlights the role of constitutional courts as central institutional actors in the protection of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law, in constant dialogue with the Inter-American System.