Old Member publishes new work on human rights in Latin America

Old Member Tatiana Gos has recently published Políticas públicas y derechos humanos. Gobernar bajo la Constitución (“Public Policies and Human Rights: Governing under the Constitution”).

The book examines the relationship between constitutional law, democratic governance, public policy and human rights in Latin America, particularly focusing on how public institutions and legislatures can strengthen democratic deliberation and develop evidence-based policies aimed at the effective realisation of human rights and sustainable development goals.

After a career as a litigator, consultant, and researcher, in this book, Tatiana returns to the persistent gap between what constitutions promise (including the human rights treaties that carry constitutional rank across much of Latin America) and what people actually experience. When information is insufficient, decisions are made without proper justification, and public finances drift from the constitutional mandates, the State does not decide, it improvises. 

Tatiana reflects on her vision for the book: 

'My hope is that this book broadens where and how we look for human rights. We have asked a great deal of our courts, and rightly so, but constitutions become real through everyday governance, through legislatures that deliberate seriously and open their decisions to citizens. If the book gives decision-makers practical tools to close that gap, it will have done its work.'

Tatiana completed a Masters in International Human Rights Law at New College and credits this experience with providing the chance to exchange ideas and debate with outstanding scholars from different parts of the world, and different legal cultures, allowing her to 'see our region's problems (and their solutions) from a richer and more comparative perspective'.