REPORT Nº 65/08 1 PETITION 460-00 ADMISSIBILITY VICTORIO SPOLTORE ARGENTINA July 25, 2008 I. SUMMARY 1. This report addresses the admissibility of petition 460-00, opened by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Commission” or “IACHR”), in response to a complaint that was received on September 11, 2000 from Mr. Victorio Spoltore against the Republic of Argentina (hereinafter “Argentina” or “the State”). The petitioner alleges that the State has incurred international liability under the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter the “American Convention” or “the Convention”) for denial and delay of justice to the detriment of Mr. Victorio Spoltore. 2. The petition indicates that on June 30, 1988, Mr. Victorio Spoltore filed suit against his former employer for occupational sickness, alleging that he had suffered damage to his health as a result of working at that job. The petitioner indicates that the State was responsible for unwarranted delay during the labor proceedings because Labor Tribunal No. 3 did not issue the judgment denying the employer’s responsibility until nine years after the suit was initially filed. He adds that he appealed this judgment through a recurso de inaplicabilidad (appeal for reversal of a decision which contradicts established doctrine) and a recurso de nulidad (motion to vacate based on procedural violations), which three years later were resolved unfavorably for the petitioner. 3. The petitioner added that, simultaneous to the issuance of the judgment, he went before the Supreme Court of the Province of Buenos Aires to request an investigation of the delay and negligence perpetrated by the labor court of the first instance. In response, the petitioner alleges, although the Supreme Court agreed that there had in fact been a delay of justice, it merely reprimanded the clerk of the court. 4. The State, for its part, maintains that Mr. Victorio Spoltore had not exhausted the remedies available under domestic law to correct the 1 Commission member Víctor E. Abramovich, an Argentine national, participated in neither the deliberations nor the decision in this case, pursuant to Article 17(2)(a) of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission.