The facts of the case concern the arbitrary removal from office of 27 magistrates of the Ecuadorian Supreme Court of Justice, by means of a parliamentary resolution issued in December 2004.

The IA Court situated the events in the context of an unstable political situation which implicated the dismissal of various Presidents and the modification, on several occasions, of the Constitution in order to address the political crisis. Standards were applied by the Court regarding the scope of judicial guarantees and effective judicial protection for judges in relation to judicial independence