17
occupied (supra para. 55). Then, it corresponds to the Tribunal to analyze, first, if in
this case, the reinstatement to the position was the reparation necessary to correct
Mrs. Reverón Trujillo’s situation, which would lead to the consequence that an
effective remedy would necessarily imply said reparation (supra para. 61). If a
positive conclusion is reached in this sense, the Tribunal shall analyze if the reasons
indicated by the SPA (the judicial restructuring process and the alleged victim’s
condition of provisional judge) constituted adequate restrictions according to the
American Convention and therefore freed the State from reinstating Mrs. Reverón
Trujillo to her position and paying her the salaries she did not perceive. If it is
concluded that those reasons did not excuse the State from proceeding with the
reinstatement, the consequence will be that the remedy was not effective to solve
the alleged victim’s situation. If on the contrary it is concluded that those reasons
justified that the State not proceed with the reinstatement, it shall decide if the
reparations granted, that is, the elimination of the sanction of dismissal from the
dossier in their files and the order that she be evaluated and included in the
competitive tenders if she were to require it (supra para. 55), were the adequate
ones. If it is concluded that they were not, there will be a violation to Article 25; to
the contrary, there will not.
2.1
The effective remedy after the arbitrary dismissal of a judge
63. The Court will proceed now to analyze if the reinstatement to the position is
necessary to correct the situation of the judges that are arbitrarily dismissed, as
occurred in the present case according to that stated by the SPA (supra para. 53)
and, therefore, if an effective remedy in this case implies the reinstatement.
64. The judges that form part of the judicial career have, first of all, the stability
offered by the fact of being a career official. The general principle in labor matters for
career civil servants is understood as the certainty the employee shall have in the
sense that, as long as he observes the conditions set by law with regard to his
performance, he will not be removed from his position. The aforementioned is due to
the fact that the public employees have accessed those positions through tenders or
any other legal method that can determine the merits and abilities of those who
aspired and that are part of a permanent career.
65. Thus, for example, the Law on the Statute of Public Service in Venezuela states
that “[c]areer civil servants will be those who, having been awarded the public
tender, having overcome the trial period and by virtue of the appointment, offer
remunerated services with a permanent nature,” 54 and that “[t]he public civil
servants that occupy career positions will enjoy stability in the fulfillment of their
positions. Therefore, they may only be removed from the service based on the
causes contemplated in the present Law.”55
66. Specifically, with regard to judges, the Venezuelan Constitution establishes in
Article 255 a standard judicial career regime:
The acceptance into the judicial career and the promotion of judges will be done through
public competitive tenders that guarantee the suitability and excellence of the participants
and they will be selected by the juries of the judicial circuits, in the manner and conditions
54
Cf. Article 19 of the Law of the Statutes of Public Service in Venezuela, supra note 29.
55
Cf. Article 30 of the Law of the Statutes of Public Service in Venezuela, supra note 29.