Since the demise of the Spanish empire in the 1820s, the edifice of Central America has been shaken

by centrifugal and centripetal forces. Central America States

periodically coalesce into sub-regional organizations or federal unions which, so far, have broken down as rapidly as they have been built. This is the case of the
Central American Federal Republic, created in 1824; the United States of Central America founded in 1898, and the Central American Republic, of 1921. A common
feature of all these endeavors is the presence of a common judicial body, a Supreme Court of Justice, to guard and enforce the system's rules.

In a sense, Central America can be regarded as the cradle of the international judicial system. Not only was it the first region of the world to have established
regional international (or, even better, supra-national) judicial fora; it was also the region in which one of the first permanent international arbitral tribunals was
created. The Central American Court of Justice (Corte de Justicia Centroamericana) was established in 1907 to maintain peace and resolve disagreements among
Central American states.

The Corte de Justicia Centroamericana functioned for 10 years in Costa Rica, and was made up of five judges (one each from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras and Nicaragua). The Corte de Justicia Centroamericana is also notable because it was the first instance of an international judicial forum which heard
disputes not only between states but also between states and nationals of any of the Central American republics. Although during its time it was involved in 10
cases, the Court was rather ineffectual, as only a few cases actually reached the merits phase, and with only meager results.

After the second World War, Central American integrationist efforts got a new start. On October 14, 1951, the Charter of the Organization of Central American
States was signed by Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, creating the Organization of Central American States (Organizacion de Estados
Centroamericanos-ODECA). This Charter was modified on December 12, 1962 with the creation of a new Central American Court of Justice (Corte Centroamericana
de Justicia), CCJ which had no time limitations . The new court remained idle for the next three decades. It was only in 1991 that the Protocol of Tegucigalpa
injected new life into the ODECA by creating the Central American Integration System (Sistema de Integración Centroamericana_SICA). Panama joined as a member
State, and Belize as an observer. The Central American Court of Justice was accordingly reconfigured.

Today, the mission of the CACJ/CCJ is to realize a closer integration between its members and thereby establish a free, democratic, and peaceful region. Its
jurisdiction encompasses three key areas: first, disputes between member States or between a member State and a State which is not a member but agrees to the
Court's jurisdiction; second, disputes between States and any natural or legal person who is a resident of any member State; third, disputes about the integration
process arising between Central American Integration System's Organs and member States or natural or legal persons. Finally, much like its regional predecessors
but unlike most of the bodies included in this matrix, the CACJ/CCJ is characterized by strong supra-national features. It acts as a permanent consultative organ for
Supreme Courts of the region and can, upon request of a party, hear disputes between constitutional organs of member States.

The Central American Court of Justice (Corte Centroamericana de Justicia) is an international tribunal of general jurisdiction, created in the interest
of promoting peace and regional unity, under the auspices of the Central American Integration System. The Central American Court of Justice sits in
Managua, Nicaragua and has four Member States: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua. The Court of Justice does not have
competence to hear individual complaints of alleged violations of the American Convention of Human Rights.
The Central American Court of Justice was first established in 1907 to maintain peace and resolve disagreements among Central American states,
and operated for 10 years in Costa Rica. In 1991, the Statute of the Court was reconfigured under the newly created Central American Integration
System (Sistema de Integración Centroamericana (SICA)).
The SICA was established on December 13, 1991, when the Protocol to the Charter of the Organization of Central American States (ODECA)
or Tegucigalpa Protocol was signed (amending the Charter of ODECA, signed on December 12, 1962. ODECA formally came into operation on
February 1, 1993). The SICA was “designed taking into account past attempts for regional unification as well as lessons learned from a history of
political crisis, belligerent conflict and dictatorial rule in Central America. These considerations, coupled to internal constitutional transformations
and the existence of democratic regimes in the region, were contemplated in establishing the fundamental objective of realizing the integration of
Central America in order to transform the area into a region of Peace, Liberty, Democracy and Development, based firmly on the respect, tutelage
and promotion of human rights.”
Today, the Central American Court of Justice has jurisdiction, inter alia, to resolve: legal disputes on any issue arising between States, actions
challenging the legitimacy or compliance of State law or actions with SICA agreements, disputes between government organs, and actions
by individuals affected by a SICA agreement or actor. See Statute of the Central American Court of Justice, art. 22. The Court also issues opinions
on the interpretation of SICA instruments, when requested by a national court in a pending case or by a State. Id., art. 22(k), 23.
However, Article 25 of the Court’s statute states, “The Court’s competence does not include jurisdiction over human rights matters, which
belongs exclusively to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights”. Accordingly, the Court will not hear human rights claims against States that
have ratified the American Convention on Human Rights and accepted the Inter-American Court’s contentious jurisdiction, which encompasses all
SICA Member States. See, e.g., Ricardo Duarte Moncada v. Nicaragua et al., Judgment of January 13, 1995. However, it may decide complaints
arising under community law that involve individual rights. See, e.g., Alfonso Antonio Portillo Cabrera v. Guatemala, Judgment of May 5, 2008
(finding that Guatemala violated community law by failing to request the suspension of a Central American Parliament member’s immunity before
prosecuting him).