O’Neill Institute’s Center for Health and Human Rights Hosts High Court Justices for Second Annual “Judicial Dialogues on Health and the Law”
January 28, 2026
L-R: Professor Gonzalo García Pino; Justice Alí Lozada; Chief Justice Daniela Marzi Muñoz; Justice Army Ferreira Reyes; Justice María del Carmen Santana de Cabrera; Justice Natalia Ángel Cabo; Juan Pablo Novella Heilmann; Justice Rubenia Galeano Barralga; Oscar A. Cabrera.
High court judges from across Latin America and the Caribbean were joined last month at Georgetown Law by scholars and legal advocates for the second annual “Judicial Dialogues on Health and the Law” hosted by the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law’s Center for Health and Human Rights.
The two-day event, held in partnership with Ríos Strategic Lawyering for Social Justice, featured thematic closed-door discussions on timely issues at the intersection of health and human rights, including sexual and reproductive health and the regulation of private actors in healthcare. The discussions were followed by a public conference on Dec. 3 that brought together judges and attendees to explore the judiciary’s role in upholding the right to health.
Speakers and panelists included Justice Natalia Ángel Cabo of the Constitutional Court of Colombia, Justices Army Ferreira Reyes and María del Carmen Santana de Cabrera of the Constitutional Tribunal of the Dominican Republic, Chief Justice Daniela Marzi Muñoz of the Constitutional Tribunal of Chile, Justice Rubenia Galeano Barralga of the Supreme Court of Justice of Honduras and Justice Alí Lozada of the Constitutional Court of Ecuador. The event also included contributions from Christian Courtis of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Professor Gonzalo García Pino of Universidad Alberto Hurtado, former justice of the Constitutional Tribunal of Chile.
At the capstone public conference, “The Judicial Protection of the Right to Health: Contemporary Challenges and Opportunities,” moderated by Fernanda Rodríguez-Pliego, an associate with the O’Neill Institute’s Center for Health and Human Rights, high court justices from across Latin America and the Caribbean shared their experiences with rights-based rulings on health in their countries, underscoring the importance of collaboration and exchange among courts and academics in safeguarding health and related rights.
“The Center for Health and Human Rights is proud to continue to create spaces for critical discussions between experts and members of high courts from across Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Center for Health and Human Rights Co-Director Silvia Serrano-Guzmán following the event. “This year’s ‘Judicial Dialogues’ event demonstrated the importance of transnational judicial engagement, and how such dialogue can foster innovative, rights-based approaches to the complex health-related challenges facing courts throughout the region.”