Caroline L. Silva is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of International and European Law at the University of Amsterdam, and a research fellow at https://acil.uva.nl/. Caroline has joined the ERC-funded project “Beyond Compliance: Rethinking the Effectiveness of Regional Human Rights Regimes” as a postdoctoral researcher in September 2025. She is responsible for conducting research into the institutional effectiveness of the Inter-American System of Human Rights. Caroline’s previous research examined the relationship between domestic and international courts in Latin America. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in national high courts and at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, her previous work investigates how domestic judges gatekeep the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ decisions. Her current book project, “Gatekeepers of the Realm”, examines the role of domestic judges as gatekeepers of international jurisprudence. She also serves as Associate Editor at Political Research Exchange. Her broader academic interests include international law, international relations, and judicial politics. Before joining UvA, Caroline worked as an assistant professor of international relations at Diego Portales University, and as a lecturer in human rights at Columbia University. She was also a postdoctoral fellow at the Lichtenberg-Kolleg – The Göttingen Institute for Advanced Study at Georg-August-Universität. She holds a dual PhD, one in international law from the University of Copenhagen and another in international relations from Northwestern University. She also has an LL.M. from King’s College London and an LL.B. from Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo. A licensed lawyer in Brazil, she began her career as a tax consultant before moving into academia.
