Revista de la Facultad de Derecho

Contracts and Promises in the Dynamics of Personal Relationships

2025-11-11T10:18:49-03:00

This paper explores the role of contracts and promises in managing our personal relationships. It critically examines the tradition of viewing contracts as promises, with particular focus on the theories of Charles Fried and Dori Kimel. After outlining the main theses of each theory, the paper discusses some of the challenges they face in accounting for the contractual phenomenon. It concludes by suggesting that while both promises and contracts
serve important functions of coordination, cooperation, and socialization, only contracts enable us to engage with others in highly complex collective endeavours. This capacity significantly expands personal autonomy in a way that promises and other informal arrangements cannot match.

El rol del defensor del niño. Habilidades necesarias para garantizar la protección del interés superior de niños, niñas y adolescentes en los procesos judiciales

2025-11-11T10:16:42-03:00

The child advocate in judicial proceedings plays a fundamental role in protecting the best interests of children and adolescents. Uruguayan legislation, doctrine and jurisprudence clearly recognize that the Convention on the Rights of the Child declares children as legal subjects, making them parties to the proceedings when decisions affecting their interests are made. Legal representation is essential and this representation can be implemented in numerous ways: the child advocate appointed by the judge in charge of the case fulfills this role in Uruguay. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the necessary skills the professionals exercising this role must possess, in order to guarantee a defense that effectively protects the best interests of children and adolescents.

The Moral Priority of Legislation in a Democratic Rule of Law State

2025-12-01T13:18:47-03:00

This paper defends the thesis that, in a democratic rule of law state, judges have the moral obligation to apply legislation as the primary source of decision. Adopting a normative theoretical strategy, it examines judicial subjection to the law as part of the broader debates on the nature and normativity of law. After addressing the problem of how an artificial normative system such as law can generate moral obligations for judges, the article characterizes the ideal of the democratic rule of law and the specific role that legislative sources play within it. It concludes that, when the rule of law is at the service of democratic authority, the actions of the legislative body must be understood as a delegation of popular sovereignty which, expressed through free and competitive elections, endows it with the authority to resolve matters pertaining to the common good. Consequently, judges bear the moral duty to decide particular cases by applying, whenever clear or ascertainable through interpretation, the criteria expressed in legal rules.

Hobbes and his theoretical approach

2025-12-01T13:18:38-03:00

This article develops an approach to the theoretical proposal of Thomas Hobbes. This is fundamentally an innovative exposition and not an article that attempts to prove certain hypotheses, such as the Hobbesian position on the "problem of universals", or the vulgarized and critical skeptical anthropological position that "man is a wolf to man", among other possibilities. The first heading addresses Hobbes's context, both political and academic. Regarding the academic sphere, it emphasizes the analysis of hobbesian nominalism; a fundamental aspect of his theoretical proposal. The second criticizes what is commonly accepted, that man is a wolf to man in Hobbes; a possible interpretive solution is outlined. The third develops the theoretical justification of Leviathan based on the genetic concatenation of natural laws, in particular the 1st, 2nd and 3rd natural law. And finally, the fourth heading addresses the characteristics and definition of the State or Leviathan, placing emphasis on the peculiarities of property rights in Hobbes and some of the specific and notable prerogatives of the subjects.

The power of the executive branch to object to or comment on draft legislation and the alternatives for parliamentary response in the Uruguayan Constitution

2025-07-30T11:15:52-03:00

This text provides an interpretation of Articles 137 and subsequent articles of the Uruguayan Constitution, which refer to the Executive Branch's power to oppose bills passed by the Legislative Branch, and the alternatives available to the General Assembly when exercising such power. Specifically: (a) it is alleged that the scenarios of mere objection, which aim to frustrate the bill, must be distinguished from those that present observations, which aim to approve the bill but with a different text; (b) it is argued that the latter may consist of proposals for deletion, substitution or addition of provisions or parts of provisions of the bill; and (c) it is proposed that Article 138 refers exclusively to a pronouncement on objections and observations, and that the power of disapproval is regulated differently in Article 140. It is therefore concluded that, under the current constitutional regulations following the 1996 plebiscite reform, the special majority set out in Article 138 does not apply to the disapproval of a bill returned by the Executive Branch.

Structural litigation in Brazilian constitutional jurisdiction: a study in light of the Ius Constitutionale Commune Latino-Americano

2025-11-11T10:17:37-03:00

Complex issues, such as structural discrimination, often require structural judicial measures, typically applied to resolve structural litigation. These cases raise concerns about how the judicial handling of such processes has been conducted within the Brazilian legal context. In this context, the objective is to determine whether the incorporation of the structural litigation perspective into Brazilian legal practice has led to changes in the judicial procedures for addressing and resolving structural issues by the Supreme Federal Court, as well as to analyze the procedural rules adopted by the Supreme Federal Court in adjudicating structural litigation within its jurisdiction. To this end, a deductive approach, analytical procedural method, and jurisprudential and bibliographic research techniques were employed. It is concluded that, to provide qualified responses to the structural issues adjudicated by the Supreme Federal Court, specialized units specifically aimed at identifying and addressing these types of demands have been established. Concerning jurisprudence, it can be observed that it is increasingly common to recognize the structural bias of cases brought before the STF, moving towards the development of a leading case in structural litigation within the jurisprudence of the highest Brazilian court.

Contextual approach to the analysis of climate governance: Structural trends in the climate and energy policy of Uruguay

2025-11-11T10:18:15-03:00

Climate governance stands out for having a complex institutional framework. Which presents evidence that suggests that the complexity of the climate regime facilitates interinstitutional political strategies such as: regime change, search for new convenient negotiation forums that allows States to modify cooperation policies. Along these lines, we explore what the political commitments have been on climate matters, and the path that Uruguay has followed on the zigzagging path of global climate and energy governance.

Industrial property and open innovation: axes and links of access between patent exclusivity and social function

2025-12-03T10:39:44-03:00

The article examines compulsory licensing as a legal instrument for reconciling patent protection with access to socially relevant technologies. The issue under investigation lies in establishing normative parameters that safeguard the remuneration of the right holder while ensuring the timely dissemination of innovations in matters of public interest. The study is justified by the importance of defining mechanisms capable of preserving the economic attractiveness of research and development while enabling the public purpose of patents. The central hypothesis holds that the adoption of remuneration schemes, binding deadlines, and integration into cooperative mechanisms for technology transfer materializes legal certainty and mitigates conflicts. A legaldogmatic and comparative approach is employed, analyzing Article 68 of Law No. 9,279 of 1996, Articles 31 and 31bis of the TRIPS Agreement, European Union initiatives, and cases from Israel and Canada, as well as examples from the pharmaceutical, telecommunications, and opensource software sectors. The conclusion is that the coordinated implementation of compulsory licensing, in association with complementary mechanisms, fosters regulatory predictability and enhances access to technologies of collective interest.

Environment and Human Rights in Latin America

2025-12-10T08:40:36-03:00

This paper focuses on the human right to live in a healthy environment, addressing the challenges associated with its effective protection. It examines key regional international instruments, from the American Convention on Human Rights and its Additional Protocol on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (Protocol of San Salvador), to the 21st-century recognition of environmental access rights, particularly through the Escazú Agreement. The analysis includes a detailed overview of the Escazú Agreement, with special attention to the non-judicial protection role of the Committee to Support Implementation and Compliance, and discusses certain implications for Uruguay. Finally, the paper explores emerging trends in Latin American Constitutional Law, emphasizing normative transformations and the development of case law in this field. This evolution contrasts with the traditional anthropocentric approach to environmental protection and opens the door to ongoing debate and potential legislative or constitutional reforms.

Recensión del libro de Alejandro Miller: Manual de Derecho Comercial. Derecho Comercial Tomo I: 2.ª edición (2025), 344 pp.; Tomo II: 2.ª edición (2025), 610 pp.; Tomo IV: en imprenta (noviembre de 2025). (Montevideo, Fundación de Cultura Universitaria)

2025-12-09T13:15:27-03:00

Conservative Judicial Activism and the Case of Ms. O. A Commentary on a judicial decision regarding abortion rigths

2025-11-11T10:18:41-03:00

The article critically analyzes the Amparo Sentence 6/2017 issued by the Mercedes Court in Uruguay, which ordered the suspension of a voluntary abortion procedure (VAP) authorized by law. The judge constructs an axiological gap in the law by interpreting that the man's consent, not provided for in the norm, is legally relevant. The analysis highlights the construction of an axiological gap and gender discrimination in the judicial decision. The article suggests that this case exemplifies how the judiciary can create obstacles to the effective
exercise of legally recognized rights, undermining the legislative commitment to women’s autonomy. It further warns of the need to critically examine conservative strategies that seek to obstruct advances in sexual and reproductive rights.

XIII Jornadas Rioplatenses de Derecho Marítimo 2025

2025-12-05T08:40:12-03:00