at least to the institutions that must intervene in the said payment, so that there is no
reasons for them not to appear in the judgment.
B. Principle of transparency
We must also consider the respect for the principle of transparency that inspires the
rulings of the Court. This is established in particular in Article 69 of the Convention,
which stipulates:
“The parties to the case shall be notified of the judgment of the Court and it shall be
transmitted to the States Parties to the Convention.”
In turn, Article 24(3) of the Court’s Statute provides that:
“The decisions, judgments and opinions of the Court shall be delivered in public session,
and the parties shall be given written notification thereof. In addition, the decisions,
judgments and opinions shall be published, along with judges' individual votes and
opinions and with such other data or background information that the Court may deem
appropriate.”
Meanwhile, the Rules of Procedure establish, in their Article 32 entitled “Publication of
judgments and other decisions,” that:
1. The Court shall make public:
a. Its judgments, orders, opinions, and other decisions, including separate
opinions,
dissenting or concurring, whenever they fulfill the requirements set
forth in Article 65(2) of these Rules;
b. Documents from the case file, except those considered unsuitable for
publication;
c. The conduct of the hearings, except private hearings, through the appropriate
means;
d. Any other document that the Court considers suitable for publication.
2. Judgments shall be published in the working languages used in each case. All
other documents shall be published in their original language.
3. Documents submitted to the Secretariat of the Court that relate to cases already
adjudicated shall be made accessible to the public, unless the Court decides
otherwise.
While Article 67(6) of the Rules of Procedure indicates:
“The originals of the judgments shall be deposited in the archives of the Court. The
Secretary shall dispatch certified copies to the States Parties; the Commission; the
victims or alleged victims, or their representatives; the respondent State; the
petitioning State, if applicable; the Permanent Council through its Presidency; the
Secretary General of the OAS; and any other interested person who requests them.”
Thus, the said provisions determine the publicity and publication of the Court’s decisions,
including its judgments. In addition, they stipulate their notification or communication
not only to the parties to the respective litigation, but also to the States Parties to the
Convention. And, lastly, it is not only the aforementioned that may request a copy of the
judgments, but also the organs of the Organization of American States, and even any
other person who requests them.
Hence, all the natural and legal persons indicated above have a right to know the
judgments in full, especially when the provisions that regulate the judgments include no
indication that the Court is empowered to decide that part of them is confidential or
secret. Article 32(1)(b) of the Rules of Procedure merely authorizes the Court not to
publish “documents from the case file” that it considers “irrelevant” or “unsuitable” and,
evidently, the amount or quantum of the compensation cannot be considered, per se, to
fall into these categories, as the Judgment appears to suggest.
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