The Status of the International Treaties of Human Rights in the Brazilian Constitutional System

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to present the problem of the status of the international treaties on human rights in the Brazilian constitutional system, especially after the advent of the amendment 45 in the Constitution. To accomplish this objective the Author analyzes international treaties – first their concept, then their classification, afterwards the procedure of their approval (internal and external), as well as their normative status at last. After that he checks the differences between regular international treaties and those which subject is human rights. When he reaches that point he analyzes the problem of qualifying their normative status before the amendment of the Brazilian Constitution number 45 was introduced, which means if they had had supra constitutional status, constitutional status, supra legal but under constitutional status, or the same status as the law. Finally, he analyzes the problem of the normative status of the human rights treaties after the amendment number 45 came into force, paying special attention to the theories which attribute them constitutional status and their arguments. In the end he presents his personal opinion on this problem.