15 53. On December 7, 2009, the Deputy Director of Personnel Management issued a decision in which he declared that the evidence offered by Judge López was admissible.59 On January 18, 2010, Judge López Lone appealed that decision with the Office of the Director of Personnel Management, arguing that the evidence must be examined by the Director of the Office, not by lower-ranking administrative employees; “the party who may order a sanction must have firsthand knowledge of the evidence.”60 He also challenged the admittance of written statements made by two officials in the Judicial Branch on the grounds that they should appear in person before the official charged with examining the evidence so that they could be questioned by the parties. After the Office of the Director of Personnel Management ruled that the competent body to decide the matter was the Judicial Career Council, the latter dismissed the challenge as out of order, in a decision dated February 22, 2010. It wrote that the issues being challenged concerned the “conduct of the procedures necessary for normal proceedings.”61 54. On March 10, 2010, Judge López filed a request claiming that the statute of limitations for disciplinary action before the Office of Personnel Management had expired, since more than 60 days had passed since the Office of the Inspector General of Courts and Tribunals was seized of the facts.62 The Office of the Director declared that appeal inadmissible on April 8, 2010.63 55. One of the pieces of evidence that Judge López Lone singled out during the hearing with the Office of the Director of Personnel Management was a communiqué issued from the Office of the Chief-of-Staff of the Judicial Branch on June 30, 2009, in which the Chief Justice of the SCJ had reportedly invited personnel to a march that could be interpreted as being in support of the de facto government.64 The conclusion reached in the course of the disciplinary investigations was that this communiqué was reportedly the result of an error.65 59 Annex 13. Judiciary. Republic of Honduras. Office of the Director of Personnel Management. File No. 191-2009. Complaint: 268-IGJT-PJ-2006. Memorandum from the Deputy Director of Judicial Career Personnel Management to Adán Guillermo López Lone. December 7, 2009. Attachment to the petitioners’ communication of January 20, 2011. 60 Annex 13. Judiciary. Republic of Honduras. Office of the Director of Personnel Management. File No. 191-2009. Complaint: 268-IGJT-PJ-2006. Appeal filed with the Director of Personnel Management, January 15, 2010. Attachment to the petitioners’ communication of January 20, 2011. 61 Annex 13. Judiciary. Republic of Honduras. Office of the Director of Personnel Management. File No. 191-2009. Complaint: 268-IGJT-PJ-2006. Judicial Career Council. Decision of February 22, 2010. Attachment to the petitioners’ communication of January 20, 2011. 62 Annex 15. Judiciary. Republic of Honduras. Office of the Director of Personnel Management. File No. 191-2009. Complaint: 268-IGJT-PJ-2006. Request that Guillermo López Lone filed with the Office of the Director of Personnel Management of the SCJ concerning the statute of limitations. March 9, 2010. Attachment to the petitioners’ communication of January 20, 2011. 63 Annex 15. Judiciary. Republic of Honduras. Office of the Director of Personnel Management. File No. 191-2009. Complaint: 268-IGJT-PJ-2006. Office of the Director of Judicial Career Personnel Management. Decision of April 8, 2010. Attachment to the petitioners’ communication of January 20, 2011. 64 Annex 13. Judiciary. Republic of Honduras. Office of the Director of Personnel Management. File No. 191-2009. Complaint: 268-IGJT-PJ-2006. Office of the Head of Personnel of the Office of the Director of Personnel Management. Judicial Branch. Communiqué from June 30, 2009. Attachment to the information provided by the State during the admissibility hearing, March 25, 2011. 65 Annex 16. SCJ. Judicial Career Council. Certification, Case File No. 3077, page 317. Attachment to the petitioners’ communication of the State of 25 june, 2012. See also Annex **. Attorney General of the Republic, Document No. SP-A-902012 of June 25, 2012. Attachment to the note of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs No. 757/DGAE/012 of June 26, 2012.