Álvaro Paúl is an Associate Law Professor at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and will be serving as a Visiting Associate Professor of Law at Catholic Law for the spring of 2023. He obtained his Ph.D. at Trinity College Dublin (2013), his Master’s degree (Magister Juris) at the University of Oxford (2009), and his Law J.D. degree (Licenciado) at Universidad de los Andes, Chile (2003). He is also the Director of one of the most renowned Spanish-speaking law journals, Revista Chilena de Derecho (WoS). From 2011 onwards, Álvaro Paúl has intervened in different capacities before the Inter-American System of human rights, e.g., attorney, expert witness, and amicus curiae. He has previously worked in Chile as a researcher, a parliamentary assistant, and an attorney. His Ph.D. thesis dealt with evidence before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and his research interests are International Human Rights Law, International Procedural Law, and Decision-Making Processes. Álvaro Paúl was admitted to the Chilean Bar in 2004. He has been a guest professor at the Center for Civil & Human Rights at Notre Dame University, Indiana (2015), at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (2017), and a visiting faculty member at Notre Dame University Law Faculty (2019) and at and Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II, Lublin (2020). He has also been a study visitor at the European Court of Human Rights (Strasbourg, 2013), an intern at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (Washington, D.C., 2012), and a professional visitor (intern) at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (San José de Costa Rica, 2010). Among other distinctions, Álvaro Paúl has been awarded two Fondecyt Research Projects and has been granted scholarships from both the British Council (Chevening) and the Chilean Government. His undergraduate thesis was honored with the Fundación Fueyo Laneri award for being one of the best degree theses of year 2003 (published as a hardcopy book by Lexis Nexis). He has published articles in English, Spanish, and French, and two legal books. Álvaro Paúl also serves on the board of the Chilean NGO Comunidad y Justicia.

 

Professional Research and Writing

(Works in English)

• “The Emergence of a More Conventional Reading of the Conventionality Control Doctrine”, 49 Revue Générale de Droit, Special Issue, 2019, pp. 275-302.
• “The American Convention on Human Rights Updated by the Inter-American Court”, 20 Juris Dictio, Dossier: Vigilar al Vigilante, Quito, 2017, pp. 53-86.
• “Admissibility of Evidence before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights”, 13:2 Revista Direito GV, São Paulo, Brazil, 2017, pp. 653-676.
• “The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ Initial Review of Petitions, Its Backlog and the Attempts to Reduce It”, 49:1 The George Washington International Law Journal, Washington D.C., U.S.A., 2016, pp. 19-52.
• “Decision-Making Process of the Inter-American Court: A Commentary Based on the ‘In Vitro Fertilization’ Case”, 21:1 ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law, Florida, U.S.A., 2014, pp. 87-130.
• “Atala-Riffo and Daughters v. Chile: The First Inter-American Case on Sexual Orientation”, 7 Inter-American & European Human Rights Journal, Ghent, Belgium, 2014 (peer-reviewed) pp. 54-74.
• “Sana Crítica: The System for Evaluating Evidence Utilized by the Inter-American Court”, 18 Buffalo Human Rights Law Rev., NY, U.S.A., 2012, pp. 193-221.
• “Translation Challenges of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and Cost-Effective Proposals for Improvement”, 5 Inter-American & European Human Rights Journal, Ghent, Belgium, 2012, pp. 3-26 (peer-reviewed).
• “In Search of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights Standards of Proof”, 55 Revista Instituto Interamericano de DD.HH., San José, Costa Rica, 2012, pp. 57-102.
• “Controversial Conceptions: The Unborn and the American Convention on Human Rights”, 9 Loyola U. Chicago International Law Rev., Chicago, 2012, pp. 209-47.

(Books in Spanish)

• Los Trabajos Preparatorios de la Declaración Americana de los Derechos y Deberes del Hombre y del Origen Remoto de la Corte Interamericana (The Travaux Préparatoires of the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man & the Origin of the Inter-American Court), UNAM (Mexico), 2017.
• La Prueba Anticipada en el Proceso Civil (Pre-trial Evidence in Civil Procedure), Lexis Nexis/LegalPublishing, Santiago (Chile), 2006.