401. In its Orders in those cases, the Court found that Peru had adopted measures aimed at
rescinding some domestic norms that were contrary to the Convention by annulment, reform or a
new interpretation. These reforms took into account, inter alia: (i) the infringement of the
guarantee of an ordinary judge by the use of “faceless” judges; (ii) the questioning of the
presumption of innocence by opening the preliminary investigation with an arrest warrant; (iii) the
prohibition to recuse judges, and (iv) the violation of the right to file an application for habeas
corpus. In this regard, the Court added that some norms of a legal nature had been issued in this
regard, the content of which was designed to comply with some standards of international human
rights law. 565
402. In the above-mentioned cases, due to the inexistence of a specific and actual dispute
between the parties with regard to the scope of the reforms ordered, the Court proceeded to
terminate the monitoring of compliance with the measure of reparation concerning the obligation to
adapt domestic law to the standards of the American Convention. 566 The Court emphasized that,
even though some aspects of the counter-terrorism laws had not been examined in those Orders,
this was not an obstacle to their future analysis in the context of other contentious cases. 567
403. Consequently, the Court will not rule on the provisions specifically analyzed in the Orders on
monitoring compliance in the cases of Castillo Petruzzi, Loayza Tamayo and Lori Berenson Mejía.
Furthermore, it will not rule on the provision relating to the obligation to hold the trial in private
hearings established in Article 13(f) of Decree-Law 25,475, because Legislative Decree No. 922
establishes the public nature of the oral hearing for offenses relating to terrorism, save in
exceptional cases. 568 According to information provided by the State, this decree provides “the
current legal framework for terrorism trials.”
C.3.1) The legal restrictions that prevent offering as witnesses those who intervened in the
elaboration of the police attestation
404. The Court considered that Article 13(c) of Decree-Law No. 25,475 applicable to the
proceedings against Ms. J., prevented her from exercising the right to question the witnesses who
had intervened in the elaboration of the police attestation (supra paras. 208 to 210), in violation of
her right to defend herself. The Court notes that, when analyzing this provision, the Constitutional
Court found that the impossibility of calling as witnesses those who intervened in the police
attestation was not unconstitutional, because it was a reasonable measure to protect the rights of
those who had intervened in the police investigation. In addition, according to the Constitutional
Court, this restriction did not affect the possibility of offering and taking other pertinent probative
measures, because the police attestation is just one more probative element and does not have the
status of conclusive proof; furthermore, it is not prohibited to question the content of the police
Lori Berenson Mejía v. Peru. Monitoring compliance with judgment, supra, considering paragraph 16.
565
Cf. Case of Castillo Petruzzi et al. v. Peru. Monitoring compliance with judgment, supra, considering paragraphs
12, 13, 15, 18 and 19, and Case of Lori Berenson Mejía v. Peru. Monitoring compliance with judgment, supra, considering
paragraph 17.
566
Cf. Case of Castillo Petruzzi et al. v. Peru. Monitoring compliance with judgment, supra, considering paragraph
25; Case of Loayza Tamayo v. Peru. Monitoring compliance with judgment, supra, considering paragraph 34, and Case of
Lori Berenson Mejía v. Peru. Monitoring compliance with judgment, supra, considering paragraph 34.
567
Cf. Case of Castillo Petruzzi et al. v. Peru. Monitoring compliance with judgment, supra, considering paragraph
25; Case of Loayza Tamayo v. Peru. Monitoring compliance with judgment, supra, considering paragraph 34, and Case of
Lori Berenson Mejía v. Peru. Monitoring compliance with judgment, supra, considering paragraph 21.
568
Cf. Legislative Decree No. 922 of February 11, 2003, article 12 (file of annexes to the answering brief, annex 15, folios
3301 and 3302).
118
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