4.
A request for interpretation shall not suspend the effect of the judgment.
5.
The Court shall determine the procedure to be followed and shall render its decision in
the form of a judgment.
8.
Furthermore, Article 31(3) of the Rules of Procedure establishes
“[j]udgments and orders of the Court may not be contested in any way.”
that
the
9.
The Court observes that the representatives presented their request for
interpretation of the Judgment within the 90-day period established in Article 67 of the
Convention, because it was notified on December 18, 2012.
IV
ANALYSIS OF THE ADMISSIBILITY OF THE REQUEST FOR INTERPRETATION
10.
As this Court has established in its consistent case law, clearly supported by the
applicable law, a request for interpretation of judgment may not be used as a means of
contesting the decision the interpretation of which is requested. The exclusive purpose of
this request is to determine the meaning of a judgment when one of the parties affirms that
the text of its operative paragraphs or of its considerations lacks clarity or precision,
provided that these considerations have an impact on the said operative paragraphs. 3
Consequently, it is not possible to request the modification or annulment of the respective
judgment by means of a request for interpretation.4
11.
Furthermore, the Court has affirmed the inadmissibility of using a request for
interpretation in order to submit factual or legal questions that were brought up at the
appropriate procedural moment and on which the Court has already adopted a decision.5
12.
The Court will proceed to analyze the request for interpretation filed by the
representatives in order to determine whether it is in order to clarify the meaning or scope
of any point of the Judgment. To this end, it will examine the questions posed by the
representatives, as well as the arguments and observations of the State and of the
Commission.
13.
The representatives filed the request for interpretation for the Court to clarify
“various aspects related to the reparations ordered in favor of the victims,” which they
divided into three elements: (i) an alleged discrepancy between the persons identified as
injured party and the entitlement to the reparations ordered; (ii) the victims of forced
displacement, and (iii) the situation of the next of kin of Luis Enrique Ropero and others.
Nevertheless, the representatives posed several questions that were not clearly related to
these issues; therefore, the Court will examine each question in the order in which it was
posed, namely:
3
Cf. Case of Loayza Tamayo v. Peru. Interpretation of the judgment on merits. Order of the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights of March 8, 1998. Series C No. 47, para. 16, and Atala Riffo and Daughters v. Chile.
Interpretation of the judgment on merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of November 21, 2012. Series C No.
254, para. 11.
4
Cf. Case of Loayza Tamayo v. Peru. Interpretation of the judgment on merits, para. 16, and Atala Riffo
and Daughters v. Chile. Interpretation of the judgment on merits, reparations and costs, para. 11.
5
Cf. Case of Loayza Tamayo v. Peru. Interpretation of the judgment on reparations and costs. Judgment of
June 3, 1999. Series C No. 53, para. 15; Case of Salvador Chiriboga v. Ecuador. Interpretation of the judgment on
reparations and costs, Judgment of August 29, 2011. Series C No. 230, para. 30, and Case of Abrill Alosilla et al. v.
Peru. Interpretation of the judgment on merits, reparations and costs, Judgment of November 21, 2011, Series C
NO. 235, para. 17.
3