13
*
*
FIRST PRELIMINARY OBJECTION
“Lack of Jurisdiction Ratione Temporis”
31.
The State raised its first preliminary objection based on its Instrument of
Recognition of the contentious jurisdiction of the Court of June 6, 1995. This
instrument contains the following declaration:
I.
The Government of El Salvador recognizes as binding ipso facto, and not requiring
special agreement, the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, in
accordance with Article 62 of the American Convention on Human Rights, "Pact of San
José."
II. The Government of El Salvador, in recognizing that jurisdiction, states that its
recognition is for an indefinite period and on condition of reciprocity, and that it retains
the right to include exclusively deeds or juridical acts or deeds or juridical acts that begin
after the date of deposit of this declaration of acceptance.
32.
As a result, the State alleged that this declaration precludes the Court from
hearing or ruling upon: a) events or juridical acts prior to the date of deposit of the
Declaration of Acceptance; and b) “events or juridical acts which begin prior to the
date on which the Declaration of Acceptance was deposited.”
33.
On this point, the State also indicated that it submits to the Court’s
consideration the second part of the declaration of recognition of the Court’s
jurisdiction. According to the State, this declaration directs that the Court shall only
have jurisdiction over those events or juridical acts which have begun subsequent to
the date of deposit of the declaration of recognition, thus excluding events or
juridical acts which begin prior to that date, and which continue to have effects
subsequent to that date.
34.
El Salvador indicated that upon applying this temporal limitation to the
present case, “given that the events occurred on June 10, 1994, a hearing of these
events, as well as some of the judicial investigation and prosecutorial actions, lie
outside the Court’s jurisdiction, taking into account that this event generated effects
in time such as the judicial proceedings and prosecutorial actions which include a
variety of investigations to address that event; as a result, these events or juridical
acts also would remain excluded from the jurisdiction of the Court, since they
necessarily depend upon the generating event, which is the homicide of [Ramón
Mauricio García Prieto].” The State supported its reasoning “on the basis that the
accessory’s fate is the same as that of the principal, which is a general principle of
Law and which indicates that if the events which gave rise to subsequent actions
have as a point of departure the homicide of [Ramón Mauricio García Prieto ] which
occurred on June 10, 1994, that is, prior to June 6, 1995, and if this […] is the
generating event, and everything else derives from it, it would be contrary to the
principle of legal certainty to exercise jurisdiction over the other events[…].”
35.
The Inter-American Commission maintained that the Court has jurisdiction
over the events and alleged violations that occurred subsequent to the date of the
State’s recognition of the Court’s jurisdiction. In this regard, in its application, the
Commission distinguished between those events which, in its opinion, were outside
the jurisdiction of the Tribunal, and those acts and omissions which were
consummated independently subsequent to June 6, 1995, the date on which the
State recognized the Court’s jurisdiction. According to the Commission, these acts
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