Together with the expansive process of human rights constitutional declarations, in addition to the writ of habeas corpus and of habeas data, Latin American constitutions created a specific judicial remedy for the protection of constitutional rights, known as the suit, action, recourse, or writ of amparo. After spreading throughout Latin America, it was incorporated in the American Convention of Human Rights. It is similar to the 'injunctions' and the other equitable remedies of the United States legal system. This book examines, with a comparative constitutional law approach, trends in the constitutional and legal regulations in all Latin American countries regarding the amparo proceeding. It is an abridged version of the course of lectures the author gave at the Columbia Law School analyzing the regulations of the seventeen amparo statutes in force in Latin America, as well as the regulation on the amparo guarantee established in Article 25 of the American Convention on Human Rights.

Law Degree (Summa Cum Laude) (1962) and Doctor of Laws (1964), Central University of Venezuela. Since 1963 he has been Professor at the Central University of Venezuela. He was the Director of the Public Law Institute at the same University (1978-1989), and has been Professor in post-graduate courses in the Law Faculties at the University of Cambridge (LLM), UK; the University of Paris II; the University of Rosario and the University Extern ado of Colombia in Bogota. In 2006 and 2007, he has been Adjunct Professor of Law at the Columbia Law School, University of Columbia, New York. In 1981 he was awarded with the National Sciences Prize of Venezuela, for his achievements in law and institutional studies. He is a Vice-President of the International Academy of Comparative Law (The Hague); a Member of the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights; and a Member of the Venezuelan National Academy of Political and Social Sciences, where he served as President in 1997-1999. In Venezuela, he has been Senator for the Federal District; Head of the Presidential Commission on Administrative Reform and Minister for Decentralization; and was elected Member of the National Constituent Assembly in 1999. Since 1980, he has been the Director of the Public Law Journal (Revista de Derecho Publico) of Venezuela and has extensively published books and articles on constitutional and administrative law. Cambridge University Press published his 1985 book, Judicial Review in Comparative Law. Since 1974 he has been a Partner of the law firm Baumeister & Brewer in Caracas.