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of August 15, 2000, in which the Supreme Electoral Council excluded YATAMA from
the 2000 municipal elections (supra para. 124(51)). On October 25, 2000, the
Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice ruled on the application for
amparo that had been filed, declaring it inadmissible in limine litis (supra para.
124(61)) on the grounds that it did not have jurisdiction to deliberate on electoral
matters, because the resolution issued by the Supreme Electoral Council referred to
such matters and Article 173 of the Constitution established that no ordinary or special
recourse was admissible against the resolutions of this body. In this ruling, the
Constitutional Chamber also indicated that, pursuant to the judgment it had delivered
in another case on July 1, 1999, the only resolutions of the Supreme Electoral Council
that could be appealed against by an application for amparo were those relating to
administrative matters concerning political parties. Nevertheless, it did not include any
observations with regard to the differences that existed between matters concerning
political parties and those concerning electoral issues, or to the reasons why the
resolution that YATAMA was appealing was included in the latter category.
173. There was no judicial remedy against the resolution of the Supreme Electoral
Council of August 15, 2000 (supra para. 124(51), so this could not be revised, even if
it had been adopted without respecting the guarantees of the electoral procedure
established in the Electoral Act or the minimum guarantees established in Article 8(1)
of the Convention, applicable to the process.
174. Even though the Nicaraguan Constitution has established that the resolutions of
the Supreme Electoral Council on electoral matters are not subject to ordinary or
special recourses, this does not mean that this Council should not be subject to judicial
controls, as are the other branches of government. The requirements arising from the
principle of the independence of the powers of the State are not incompatible with the
need to establish recourses or mechanisms to protect human rights.
175. Irrespective of the regulations that each State establishes for its supreme
electoral body, the latter must be subject to some form of jurisdictional control that
allows it to be determined whether its acts have been adopted respecting the
minimum guarantees and rights established in the American Convention, and those
established in its own laws; this is not incompatible with regard for the functions
inherent in this body concerning electoral matters. This control is essential when the
supreme electoral bodies such as the Supreme Electoral Council in Nicaragua, have
broad powers, which exceed administrative faculties and which could be used, without
an adequate control, to favor determined partisan objectives. In this sphere, this
recourse must be simple and prompt, taking into account the characteristics of the
electoral process (supra para. 150).
176. In view of the above, the Court concludes that the State violated the right to
judicial protection embodied in Article 25(1) of the American Convention, to the
detriment of the candidates proposed by YATAMA to participate in the 2000 municipal
elections, in relation to Articles 1(1) and 2 thereof.
177. With regard to the other allegations of the representatives, the Court does not
find that the facts set out by the Commission in the instant case show that they
constitute a violation of Article 25(2)(c) of the Convention.
X
VIOLATION OF ARTICLES 23 AND 24 OF THE AMERICAN CONVENTION
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