88
310. Hence, the ex officio action that the State may or is bound to carry out in the cases
reported at the domestic level are governed by the principle of officiality regarding crimes
that are publicly actionable304. Therefore, once brought to the attention of state authorities,
the facts that constituted publicly actionable crimes - which could be physical attacks-,
should have been investigated, promptly and effectively, by the State and the Attorney
General’s Office should have expedited such proceedings. Other facts alleged to be in
breach of the Convention and that were reported before the Attorney General’s Office
classify, under the Venezuelan legislation, as offenses that can be prosecuted in a private
suit or at the request of a party.
311. Section 301 of the COPP (2001) governs the requests for dismissal of the complaints
or suit made by the Attorney General’s Office when, inter alia, privately actionable crimes
would have been brought to the attention of such authority305. Regarding the cases in which
the reported facts that, according to the State, constituted privately actionable crimes, the
Attorney General’s Office had the obligation, pursuant to the mentioned rule of the COPP, to
request the Investigating Judge to dismiss the complaint. Hence, the failure of state
authorities to render a timely decision that could clarify that the procedural channel chosen
was not the adequate procedural solution, inasmuch as the means through which it was
brought to the attention of the authority was not the means established in the domestic
legal system or because the authority before which the complaint or suit was brought was
not competent, did not allow or contribute to the effective determination of some facts and,
where applicable, the corresponding criminal responsibilities306. The State cannot justify its
total inactivity to carry out an investigation alleging that the facts were not brought to the
attention of the competent authority by means of the procedural channel established in the
domestic legislation, since, at least, the Attorney General’s Office had the obligation to
request the dismissal of the complaint if "after the opening of the investigation, the court
decides that the facts of the proceedings constitute a crime prosecutable only at the request
of the aggrieved party".
312. Regarding the arguments of the representatives (supra para. 308) the Court
considers that occurrence of an event in a public place or its broadcasting in a media does
not automatically constituted such event into a “public and notorious” fact for judicial
purposes. The authority in charge of the criminal prosecution within a State does not
necessarily have to act on an ex officio basis in such cases. In this sense, it is not the duty
of this Tribunal to verify whether each one of the facts alleged by the representatives was,
in fact, broadcasted on television nor does it have to evaluate the criminal importance or
possible meaning of each fact in order to determine the obligation of the Attorney General’s
Office to conduct the corresponding investigations ex officio.
and 7002) and Basic Code of Criminal Procedure, supra note 300, sections 25, 400 and 402 (records of evidence,
volume XLV, pages 13231 and 13251).
304
Cf. Basic Code of Criminal Procedure, supra note 300, sections 24, 25 and 26 (records of evidence,
volume XLV, pages 13230, 13231)
305
Hence, said rule establishes that "The Office of the Prosecutors General, within fifteen days following the
receipt of the complaint or suit, shall request the Investigating Judge, by means of a reasoned brief, the dismissal
of such complaint or suit when the fact is not a crime or when the action has clearly prescribed, or there is some
sort of legal hindrance in the development of the proceeding. The Court shall proceed according to the provisions of
this section if, after the opening of the investigation, it determines that the facts of the proceeding constitute
crimes which may only be prosecuted at the request of the aggrieved party".
306
Cf. mutatus mutandi, Case of Yvon Neptune V. Haití, supra note 24, para 79 to 81.
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