exceptions to the general principle of exhaustion of domestic remedies:
(a) when the domestic legislation of the State concerned does not afford
due process of law for the protection of the right or rights that have
allegedly been violated; (b) when the party alleging violation of his
rights has been denied access to the remedies under domestic law or
has been prevented from exhausting them; or (c) when there has been
unwarranted delay in rendering a final judgment under the
aforementioned remedies. For those remedies to be adequate implies
that they be:
suitable to address an infringement of a legal right. A
number of remedies exist in the legal system of every
country, but not all are applicable in every circumstance. If
a remedy is not adequate in a specific case, it obviously
need not be exhausted. A norm is meant to have an effect
and should not be interpreted in such a way as to negate its
effect or lead to a result that is manifestly absurd or
unreasonable.12
73.
Before presenting this petition, the Lhaka Honhat
Association filed an appeal for constitutional protection (amparo) with
the Supreme Court of the Province of Salta, against that Province,
asking the court to order immediate suspension of construction works
on the Mision La Paz-Pozo Hondo bridge, and all other works (urban
development, road construction) or changes to the Mision La Paz
reserve or to fiscal lots 14 and 55. The provincial court rejected the
application for "no innovation" on November 8, 1995, and on April 29,
1996 it rejected the motion for amparo. In its ruling, the Supreme
Court of Salta held that, from an analysis of the presentation given and
the elements supplied, it could not conclude that the Province's conduct
had been manifestly illegal or arbitrary, given that the actions
challenged consisted in the Province's carrying out decisions of the
federal government which were not challenged by the petitioners. This
pointed to the need to pursue ordinary channels that would allow
greater possibility for debate and evidence. With respect to the injury
that execution of those works might imply, and the disastrous
environmental impact that they would have on the aboriginal
communities, the Supreme Court of Salta held that, although those
works and acts might affect the petitioners, there was no evidence that
they went beyond what was reasonable. Subsequently, on May 14,
1996, the legal representatives of the Lhaka Honhat Association filed an
extraordinary federal appeal against that ruling, which was also
12 I/A Court H.R., Velásquez Rodríguez Case. Judgment of July 29, 1988. Series C No.
4, para. 64.
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