47
102. Moreover, in this case, the Congress of Peru annulled its decisions dismissing
the three justices of the Constitutional Court on November 17, 2000, which implies
an absence of the legal conditions that would have substantiated the dismissal
(supra 56.30).
103. The Court considers that the facts described in the case sub judice should not
be considered a violation of Article 23 of the Convention (political rights). The three
justices who were dismissed had had access, under general conditions of equality, to
the public service of their country; in this case, questions have arisen that imply the
violation of other provisions of the Convention: Articles 8 and 25, that establish the
right of the victims to obtain judicial protection, in accordance with due legal
process.
104. Therefore, it should be considered that this matter was resolved with the
facts established in previous sections in relation to the right to a fair trial and judicial
protection.
XIII
NON-COMPLIANCE WITH ARTICLE 1(1)
(OBLIGATION TO RESPECT RIGHTS)
The Commission’s arguments
105.
Regarding Article 1(1) of the Convention, the Commission argued that:
a)
According to the rules of international law and the Court’s
jurisprudence, the acts or omissions of any public authority engage the
responsibility of the State with regard to the articles of the Convention, and
the State is obliged to identify those responsible for acts or omissions and
impose the pertinent sanctions; and
b)
In the case sub judice, both the Judiciary and the Constitutional
Court, as public authorities, were “obliged to guarantee due process and to
adopt the necessary measures to make effective the rights of the three
[j]ustices who had been dismissed.”
The State’s arguments
106. Peru did not submit any arguments on this matter, since it did not appear
before the Court in the case sub judice (supra 58-62).
The Court’s considerations
107.
*
*
*
Article 1(1) of the Convention establishes that:
The States Parties to this Convention undertake to respect the rights and freedoms
recognized herein and to ensure to all persons subject to their jurisdiction the free and full
exercise of those rights and freedoms, without any discrimination for reasons of race, color,
sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, economic status,
birth, or any other social condition.