172. The representatives requested that the State publish: (a) the judgment in its
entirety in the Official Gazette; (b) the official summary in a newspaper with national
circulation and, (c) the full text of the judgment for a period of one year, on an official
website, accessible to the public. The Commission and the State did not refer specifically to
this measure.
C.2. Considerations of the Court
173. The Court orders, as it has done in other cases, 236 that the State publish, within a
period of six months of notification of this judgment, in a legible and adequate font size,
the following: (a) the official summary of this judgment prepared by the Court, once, in the
Official Gazette and in a newspaper with national circulation, and (b) this Judgment in its
entirety, available for a period of one year, on the official website of the Judiciary in a
manner that is accessible to the public and from the website’s home page. The State must
inform the Court immediately once it has made each of the publications ordered, regardless
of the one-year timeframe to present its first report, established in operative paragraph 9
of this judgment.
D. Guarantees of non-repetition
D.1. Requests of the Commission and the parties
174. The Commission requested that the State adapt the domestic criminal law, in
accordance with the State's obligations in terms of freedom of expression, "recourse to
subsequent civil liability" for cases of expression of public interest, or concerning the actions
of public officials, observing the principle of proportionality and actual malice. It also
requested that the regime of civil sanctions in matters of freedom of expression be adapted,
in accordance with the obligations of the State under the American Convention, which
implies establishing that the communicator disseminating the information had the intention
of inflicting harm, or was proceeded with gross negligence in the search for the truth or
falsehood of the news, respecting the principles of necessity and proportionality in the
establishment of compensation, if applicable. The Commission stated that the legislative
change that occurred in Ecuador in 2014 did not unequivocally eliminate the possibility of
penalizing criticism directed at public authorities, by maintaining the crime of slander and
"class four offenses."
175. The representatives requested, as a guarantee of non-repetition, that the State
be ordered to adopt the necessary measures to eliminate from the legal system all those
norms that allow punishing critical or disrespectful statements against public officials in the
exercise of their duties. In particular, they requested the adaption of articles 182 and 396
of the Criminal Code. Furthermore, they requested that the State be required to adopt
legislative or other measures necessary to ensure that the establishment of civil
compensation for damages cannot be used as a mechanism to impose punitive sanctions
of any kind or disproportionate compensation for the legitimate exercise of freedom of
expression. In addition, they requested that judicial officials be trained on the standards of
freedom of expression in public affairs.
176. The State stated that the Criminal Code applied to the victims was in force until
October 10, 2014, the date of publication of the Comprehensive Organic Criminal Code
Cf. Case of Cantoral Benavides v. Peru. Reparations and Costs. Judgment of December 3, 2001. Series
C No. 88, par. 79, and Case of Manuela et al. v. El Salvador, supra, par. 273.
236
56
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