22 the mandates for which they are appointed, and that they can be removed from office solely for the commission of disciplinary offenses that are previously and clearly set out in the Constitution or domestic law, and in strict compliance with the guarantees of due process. On the basis of those standards, the Commission will first address the regulatory framework applicable to the Supreme Court justices at the time of the facts and will then examine the alleged victims’ removal from their positions in light of Articles 8, 9, and 25 of the American Convention. C. Legal framework related to the judges of the Constitutional Court 83. According to the information available in the record, the Commission has considered it proven that on March 19, 2003 the National Congress designated the judges of the Constitutional Court. In addition, the Constitution of Ecuador of 1998, at Article 275, establishes that the position of judge of the Constitutional Court has a term of four years, and one may be re-elected. 84. From the foregoing it appears that the judges of the Constitutional Court were to end their terms in 2007. In addition, according to the Constitution, the only way to remove the judges from office during the established term is by an impeachment proceeding. 70 In particular, Article 275 of the Constitution expressly establishes that the judges of the Constitutional Court shall not be held liable for their votes or for the opinions they may formulate in discharging their duties. 85. The impeachment of the judges of the Constitutional Court is a power of the National Congress and is regulated by Article 130(9) of the 1998 Constitution. The National Congress shall have the following duties and powers: 9. To proceed to an impeachment, at the request of at least one-fourth the members of the National Congress, the President and Vice-President of the Republic, the cabinet ministers, the Comptroller General, and the Solicitor General, the Human Rights Ombudsman (Defensor del Pueblo), the Attorney General (Ministro Fiscal General), the superintendants, the judges of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, during their term and until one year after it has concluded. The President and Vice-President of the Republic may only be impeached for committing crimes against state security or for crimes of misappropriation, bribery, embezzlement, and illicit enrichment, and their censure and removal may only be resolved by a vote of two-thirds of the members of Congress. A criminal prosecution shall not be necessary to initiate this process. All other public servants referred to in this subsection may be impeached for constitutional or statutory infractions committed in the performance of their duties. The Congress may censure them in the event they are found guilty, by a majority of its members. Censure shall produce the immediate removal of the public servant, except in the case of cabinet ministers; the decision as to whether a cabinet member shall remain in his or her post shall be made by the President of the Republic. If the censure were to give rise to indicia of criminal liability of the public servant, it shall be ordered that the matter go before the competent judge who asks for it on a well-grounded basis. 70 Organic Law on Constitutional Review, Article 8.