of the Judiciary, used a norm that permitted a discretionality that was incompatible
with the level of predictability that a norm should have that is aimed at providing a
disciplinary sanction for the conduct of a judge, in violation of the principle of legality
and judicial independence.
7.
In addition, given that the Court has indicated that when the tenure of judges has
been affected arbitrarily, the right of access to and permanence, under general
conditions of equality, in public office is also violated,4 I also consider that it should
have declared the violation of Article 23(1)(c) of the Convention. This is because
access under conditions of equality to public office is an insufficient guarantee if it
is not accompanied by the effective protection of permanence in that office.5 In this
regard, the Human Rights Committee has also interpreted that this guarantee of
protection includes both access to and permanence in conditions of equality and
non-discrimination in relation to suspension and dismissal proceedings.6 I also
consider that if the Court had established that the principle of legality and the right
to judicial independence had been violated in this case, it would not have been
necessary to analyze the alleged violation of the right to substantiate decisions
contained in Article 8 of the American Convention.
8.
Lastly, regarding the alleged violation of Article 25(1) of the Convention, I agree
with the majority that the analysis of the arguments presented by the Commission
and the representatives reveals that the dispute in this case is related to the
effectiveness of the application for amparo against the decisions of the National
Council of the Judiciary.7 However, since the Peruvian Constitution established that
the decisions of the National Council of the Judiciary could not be contested and the
judges interpreted that the only remedy against them was the application for
amparo based on violations of due process,8 I consider that, even though there was
a remedy, this was not adequate to contest violations of other fundamental rights;
therefore, to this extent, the remedy was not effective. For this reason, I consider
that the violation of Article 25(1) of the American Convention should have been
declared.
9.
Based on the above, the undersigned is unable to agree with the criteria adopted in
the judgment to decide that the State was not responsible for violation of rights
recognized in the American Convention and alleged by the Commission and the
representatives.
L. Patricio Pazmiño Freire
Judge
Pablo Saavedra Alessandri
Secretary
Cf. Case of the Supreme Court of Justice (Quintana Coello et al.) v. Ecuador. Preliminary objection,
merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of August 23, 2013. Series C No. 266, para. 155, and Case of López
Lone et al. v. Honduras, supra, para. 192.
4
Cf. Case of Reverón Trujillo v. Venezuela. Preliminary objection, merits, reparations and costs.
Judgment of June 30, 2009. Series C No. 197, para. 138, and Case of Colindres Schonenberg v. El Salvador.
Merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of February 4, 2019. Series C No. 373, para. 93.
5
6
Cf. Human Rights Committee, Case of Pastukhov v. Belarus (Communication 814/1998), UN Doc.
CCPR/C/78/D/814/1998, August 5, 2003, paras. 7.3 and 9, and Case of Adrien Mundyo Busyo et al. v. Democratic Republic of the
Congo (Communication 933/2000), UN Doc. CCPR/C/78/D/933/2000, July 31, 2003, para. 5.2. See also: Case of Chocrón Chocrón
v. Venezuela. Preliminary objection, merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of July 1, 2011. Series C No. 227, para. 135.
Cf. Case of Cordero Bernal v. Peru. Preliminary objection and merits. Judgment of February 16,
2021. Series C No. 421, para. 102.
7
8
Cf. Case of Cordero Bernal v. Peru. Preliminary objection and merits, supra.