on January 7, 1998, the petitioners were barred from entering their workplace, leading
them to file a complaint with the Office of the Police Commissioner.
18.
On March 23, 1998, the petitioners filed an action seeking amparo
relief, requesting that they be immediately reinstated in their jobs; they argued that
due process of law had not been observed in their dismissal. The petitioners argue that
while the First Transitory Tribunal Specializing in Public Law declared the objection
unfounded, citing failure to exhaust domestic remedies, it also declared the complaint
itself unfounded. The petitioners contend that they then filed an appeal with the
Transitory Tribunal Chamber Specializing in Public Law, which upheld the lower court’s
decision. They then filed a extraordinary appeal with the Constitutional Court which,
on January 29, 2001, declared that the complaint had merit in the case of Mirtha Jesús
Ruiz Domínguez, as her contract had been suspended due to job disability. However,
the Constitutional Court declared that the action was unfounded with respect to the
other plaintiffs, since the case ought not to have been pursued by means of an action
seeking amparo relief as a proceeding of that nature does not involve an evidentiary
phase. The Court also ruled that none of the petitioners’ constitutional rights had been
violated.
19.
The petitioners allege further that on October 1, 2001, they filed an
adversarial administrative action and that on October 5, 2001; the Labor Chamber of
the Lima Superior Court ruled that the complaint was inadmissible because it was not
filed within the legal time period. The petitioners allege that this decision closed off any
possibility of their obtaining judicial remedy through the domestic remedies. The
petitioners state further that they were notified of this ruling on January 3, 2002. To be
in compliance with the Convention’s requirements, the petitioners lodged their
international complaint within two months of the date on which they were notified of
that decision.
20.
The petitioners argue that by virtue of the facts described, the
Peruvian State violated their right to due process, particularly their right to defend
themselves, and their right to judicial protection. They also contend that by so doing,
the State violated its duty to respect and ensure the Convention protected rights and its
duty to adopt domestic legislative measures.
21.
In subsequent communications, the petitioners indicated that the
Peruvian State had acknowledged the arbitrary nature of Decree Law No. 26093, which
had led to their dismissal. The acknowledgment came in the form of enactment of Law
No. 27487, which repealed the decree law and held that the dismissals of public
employees affected on the basis of that decree law had been irregular. The petitioners
contend that despite this acknowledgment, the mechanisms for redressing the rights of
the employees that were violated as a consequence of the application of
unconstitutional laws, did not satisfy the standards of what constitutes full reparation,
as determined by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in similar cases, such as
the Case of Baena Ricardo et al.
22.
The petitioners also observed that Law No 27803, which the
respondent State claims corrected the irregularities committed, was enacted four
months after the petitioners filed their case with the IACHR. The petitioners contend
that the measures adopted pursuant to that law and the possible administrative
remedies mentioned by the State, were not available at the time the violations occurred
and that those violations required an effective judicial remedy. Lastly, they point out
that these were not remedies they had to exhaust.
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