5
t)
On May 19, 1997, the President of the Congress summoned justices
Aguirre Roca, Rey Terry and Revoredo Marsano de Mur to the May 23
session, to state their arguments before the Congressional Permanent
Commission;
u)
On May 28, 1997, Congress adopted legislative decisions Nos. 002-97CR, 003-97-CR and 004-97-CR, wherein it resolved to remove justices Manuel
Aguirre Roca, Guillermo Rey Terry and Delia Revoredo Marsano de Mur from
the bench of the Constitutional Court, and
v)
On June 25, 1997, Justice Manuel Aguirre Roca filed a petition
a writ of amparo against the decision to remove him from the bench.
Guillermo Rey Terry and Delia Revoredo Marsano de Mur followed
August 1, 1997.
Those petitions were declared unfounded in
published in the El Peruano official gazette on September 25, 1998.
seeking
Justices
suit on
rulings
III
PROCEEDINGS WITH THE COMMISSION
3.
On June 2, 1997, the Inter-American Commission received a petition signed
by 26 deputies in Peru’s National Congress concerning the removal of the justices
from the bench of the Constitutional Court. On July 16 of that year, the Commission
began to process that petition, forwarding the pertinent parts thereof to the State
with the request that it supply information relevant to the matter.
4.
On October 16, 1997, Peru presented a report prepared by the National
Human Rights Council (Communication No. 1858-97-JUS/CNDH-SE) wherein it
requested that the Commission declare the petition inadmissible “inasmuch as the
petitioners [had] not exhaust[ed] local remedies.”
5.
On October 21, 1997, the Commission forwarded that report to the
petitioners and requested that they present any comments they might have within
30 days.
6.
The Commission convoked a public hearing for February 25, 1998, during its
98th session, to hear arguments from the parties concerning the petition’s
admissibility.
7.
On April 30, 1998, the petitioners requested that the Commission find the
petition admissible. That same day, the Commission informed the State of that
request.
8.
On May 5, 1998, during its 99th special session, the Commission approved
the Report on the Admissibility of Petition No. 35/98. There, it concluded that
“inasmuch as the exceptions provided for in Article 46(2)(c) of the Convention
applied in the instant case, the local remedies need not be exhausted for the
Commission to be competent to take up this petition.” That report was forwarded to
Peru and to the petitioners on December 11, 1998.
9.
On June 29, 1998, the Commission placed itself at the disposition of the
parties for purposes of a friendly settlement in accordance with Article 48(1)(f) of the
American Convention.