39. Also, article 173-B of the CCP,29 which relates to an appeal against detención en firme, indicated that: “[i]f an appeal is filed against the order to initiate a trial, the order for detención en firme shall not be suspended.” 40. Subsequently, by its article 9, Law 2006-3030 again amended the common CCP adding the following to article 173-A: Once the order to initiate a trial has been executed with the respective order of deprivation of liberty, the competent criminal judge or court shall deliver judgment within no more than ninety days. If judgment is not delivered within this time frame, the substitute or associate judges shall act and, within forty-five days they shall decide the proceedings. Both the principal judges and the substitutes shall be civilly liable for the delay in the administration of justice and the National Council of the Judiciary shall examine their conduct and shall proceed to sanction them by dismissal. The National Council of the Judiciary shall provide the logistics to enable judges to take a decision within the said time frames. 41. Then, by Ruling No. 0002-2005-TC31 issued by the Constitutional Court on October 23, 2006, detención en firme was declared unconstitutional. B. Presumed victims 42. The presumed victims were members of the National Police of Ecuador in the following posts: a) Jorge Humberto Villarroel Merino was Commander General of the National Police from 1998 until January 2000. In January 2000 he was placed in reserve retirement by the National Police because he had completed the maximum term in the post (2 years) pursuant to the Law on National Police Personnel,32 and 36 year’ service in the institution. b) Mario Romel Cevallos Moreno was Commander General of the National Police from January 2000 to April 2001. Subsequently, he was placed in a transitory situation from April to October 200133 and, on October 11, 2001, he was placed in reserve retirement by the National Police,34 after 36 years’ service in the institution. c) Jorge Enrique Coloma Gaibor was Technical Financial Director of the National Police General Command at the time of the facts. Following his acquittal, he was appointed National Financial Director of the National Police and, on August 28, 2006, he requested voluntary discharge, “waiving a transitory post, with the rank of [colonel].”35 d) Fernando Marcelo López Ortiz was a Colonel at the time of the facts. He was placed in a transitory situation at the orders of the Ministry of the Interior between January 2004 and November 2005, at which time he returned to active service with the National Police. In Law amending the Code of Criminal Procedure, Law 2003-101, article 16, which added article 173–B to the common Code of Criminal Procedure, supra. 29 30 Law amending the Codes of Execution of Judgment and Social Rehabilitation, and of Criminal Procedure, Law 200630, article 9, https://www.derechoecuador.com/registro-oficial/2006/03/registro-oficial-13-de-marzo-del-2006#anchor 881031 Consulted on September 23, 2021. The 2000 Code of Criminal Procedure, published in the Supplement to Official Record 360 of January 13, 2000, refers to Ruling No. 0002-2005-TC of the Constitutional Court published in the Supplement to Official Record 382 of October 23, 2006. Available at: http://www.oas.org/juridico/PDFs/mesicic4_ecu_codigo_pp.pdf 31 32 Cf. Affidavit made by Jorge Humberto Villarroel Merino on February 9, 2021 (evidence file, fs. 3931 to 3949). Cf. Curriculum vitae of Mario Romel Cevallos Moreno, issued by the Affiliation and Information Department of the Ecuadorian Social Services Directorate (evidence file, fs. 3884 and 3885). 33 34 Cf. Affidavit made by Mario Romel Cevallos Moreno on February 9, 2021 (evidence file, fs. 3950 to 3974). 35 Cf. Affidavit made by Jorge Enrique Coloma Gaibor on February 9, 2021 (evidence file, fs. 4017 to 4040). 12