A Jamaican lawyer has been elected to serve on the board of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). Margarette May Macaulay will serve as second vice-chair.
Macaulay is a mediator in the Supreme Court of Jamaica and an associate arbitrator.
She also served as a judge of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights from 2007 to 2012, contributing to the formulation of the Court’s Rules of Procedure.
The IACHR board is led by James Cavallaro, an American lawyer, who was elected chair.
In a media release the IACHR says the election was held at the beginning of the Commission’s 157th regular Period of Sessions.
The commissioner, an autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), has a mandate to promote respect for human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this area.
It comprises seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or residence.
