17. Regarding the admissibility requirements of the REF mentioned by the State in its
pleadings on preliminary objections, the Court notes that, in accordance with the
jurisprudence of the CSJN, "decisions in matters of so-called political trials or impeachment
of judges in the provincial sphere, issued by bodies outside the local powers, constitute a
justiciable matter when a violation of due process is invoked by the interested party" and that
"such decisions do not escape judicial review by those powers nor the subsequent intervention
of the Court by means of the extraordinary appeal".8 In turn, the CSJN held that "whoever
seeks the exercise of such scrutiny must demonstrate in a clear, unequivocal and conclusive
manner, flagrantly, a serious breach to due process norms and the guarantee of due process
and legal defense which, also, carries sufficient relevance to vary the fate of the case based
on the direct and immediate relationship that the federal issue invoked must have with the
subject matter of the trial".9
18. Notwithstanding the foregoing, this Court observes that in the instant case, the State
did not explain why the remedies filed were manifestly ill-founded. It only referred to what
was stated by the SCJBA and the CSJN, indicating that these courts had concluded that the
appeal filed was inadmissible because a violation of the rules of due process had not been
proven or demonstrated, in accordance with their jurisprudence on the matter (supra para.
13).
19. Consequently, this Court agrees with the Commission when it points out that a
pronouncement on the State's argument regarding the preliminary objection would result in
answering one of the points of merit in this case, and therefore the State's objection cannot
be resolved as a preliminary objection, as it would require an examination of the merits of
those issues. In this sense, the Court dismisses the preliminary objection submitted by the
State with respect to the admissibility requirement of the REF related to the proof of due
process violation.
20. On the other hand, this Court points out, as noted by the SCJBA and the CSJN, that Mr.
Rico did not challenge the constitutionality of the ineligibility sanction imposed on him
provided for in Law 8085 (infra para. 36) when he filed the REF; he only did so when he filed
the Special Appeal for Nullity (infra para. 34). The motion for annulment filed on that occasion
was related to the impossibility of appealing the judgment and not to the ancillary penalty
imposed on him. To that extent, both the SCJBA and the CSJN indicated that the REF was
inadmissible with regard to the unconstitutionality that had been alleged in that second
appeal, due to the fact that this allegation was submitted out of time (infra para. 37).
Therefore, this Court finds that the argument related to the non-exhaustion of domestic
remedies is admissible on this point only, since the State never had the possibility of
effectively remedying the alleged violations regarding the non-appealability of the judgment
or the ancillary penalty imposed on Mr. Rico. In view of the foregoing, the Court declares the
preliminary objection submitted by the State in relation to the motion for annulment related
to the alleged unconstitutionality of Law 8085 to be admissible.
CSJN. Case of "Graffigna Latino" (Judgments: 308:961). Case referenced by the Representatives and the
State in their main briefs.
9
CSJN. Cases "Paredes, Eduardo y Pessoa, Nelson" (Judgments: 329:3027); "Acuña" (Judgments:
328:3148); "De la Cruz" (Judgments: 331:810); "Rodríguez" (Judgments: 331:2156); "Rojas" (Judgments:
331:2195); "Trova" (Judgments: 332:2504); cases CSJ936/20.09 (45-A) /CS1 "Agente Fiscal s/ solicita instrucción
de sumario", of June 1, 2010; "Parrilli" (Judgments: 335:1779) and CSJ 1070/2012 (48-B)/CS1 "Bordón, Miguel
Ángel s/causa n°69115/10", judgment of August 27, 2013 and citations therein); "Fiscal de Estado Guilleimo H. De
Sanctis and another" (Judgments: 339:1048); "Procurador General Corte Suprema de Justicia Dr. Jorge Alberto
Barraguirre" (Judgments: 339:1463 and citations therein). Likewise, see "Ramírez, Ramón Francisco Tomás s/
acusación por mal desempeño del cargo de juez de instrucción y correccional de la ciudad de Saladas - Pcia. de
Corrientes" of May 8, 2018. Case referenced by the Representatives and the State in their main briefs.
8
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