22
other remedy is sought from any body with jurisdiction to review.82 In such sense,
the division of labor characteristic of the exercise of judicial functions implies that
reviewing bodies must only process the remedies sought by the parties objecting to
the original decision. Consequently, by determining whether the appealed judgment
was right or wrong from a legal point of view, no right of the original judges was
affected and they did not become parties per se in the dispute referred to the CPAM.
Therefore, the Court declares that the State did not violate the right of the victims to
a hearing in such proceedings.
*
*
*
74.
On the other hand, the representative alleged that “the victims in the instant
case were never heard at any hearing, neither private nor public.” In such sense he
pointed out that “[s]uch possibility is not provided either in the autonomous amparo
recourse procedure or in that for the recourse to the hierarchically superior instance”
and that “[t]he only possibility they had to be heard in court [would have been]
through an appeal for annulment [even though] it would have required permission
by the Chamber, which may grant it or not, at its discretion.” The State and the
Commission did not argue on this point.
75.
In this regard, the Court considers that Article 8(1) of the Convention does
not imply that the right to a hearing must necessarily be exercised orally in all
proceedings. The foregoing notwithstanding, the Court could consider that an oral
procedure is one of the “due guarantees” the State must afford the parties to certain
kinds of proceedings. However, the representative has not advanced any argument
justifying why an oral procedure is necessary, as a guarantee of due process, in the
disciplinary procedure before the CORJS or in the one observed for the different
recourses therefrom.
76.
On the basis of the foregoing considerations, the Court declares that the State
did not violate the right of the victims to a hearing in the aforementioned recourses
proceedings.
5.
Duty to state grounds
77.
The Court has pointed out that the grounds are “the exteriorization of the
reasoned justification that allows a conclusion to be reached.”83 The duty to state
grounds is a guarantee linked to the proper administration of justice,84 protecting the
right of citizens to be tried for the reasons provided by Law, and giving credibility to
the legal decisions adopted in the framework of a democratic society.
78.
The Court has underscored that the decisions adopted by national bodies that
could affect human rights must be duly justified, because, if not, they would be
82
Cf. article 40, part 4 of the Venezuelan Judiciary Career Act] of August 25, 1978, published on
September 11, 1998 in Extraordinary Official Gazette No. 5.262 (Evidence file, Book I, Annex A.7, pp. 121
to 132).
83
Cf. Case of Chaparro Álvarez and Lapo Íñiguez v. Ecuador. Preliminary Objection, Merits,
Reparations and Costs. Judgment of November 21, 2007. Series C No. 170, para. 107.
84
The European Court has so ruled in the Case of Suominen: “The Court then reiterates that,
according to its established case-law reflecting a principle linked to the proper administration of justice,
judgments of courts and tribunals should adequately state the reasons on which they are based.” Cf.
Suominen v. Finland, no. 37801/97, § 34, 1 July 2003.