13
1.
The facts of the present case
49. Mrs. Reverón Trujillo entered the Venezuelan Judicial Power in 1982, occupying
since then different positions in an uninterrupted manner. 34 On July 16, 1999, an
Order of the Judiciary Council appointed her as a First Instance Criminal Judge and
established that the appointment had a “provisional nature” until “the holding of the
corresponding tenders.”35 From July 21, 1999 up to February 26, 2002 Mrs. Reverón
Trujillo was a First Instance Judge of the Criminal Judicial Circuit of the Judicial
District of the Metropolitan Area of Caracas.36 In the year 2002 she acted specifically
as the Fourteenth First Instance Trial Judge of said Circuit.37 It is important to point
out that the representatives, the State and the alleged victim agree that prior to that
position, Mrs. Reverón Trujillo acted as a Judge in control duties at the Fourteenth
Court of the Metropolitan Area of Caracas.38
50. On February 6, 2002 the Commission for the Operation and Restructuring of
the Judicial System (hereinafter “the CFRSJ”) dismissed Mrs. Reverón Trujillo from
Everyone has the right to simple and prompt recourse, or any other effective recourse, to a
competent court or tribunal for protection against acts that violate his fundamental rights
recognized by the constitution or laws of the state concerned or by this Convention, even though
such violation may have been committed by persons acting in the course of their official duties.
32
Article 1(1) of the Convention states:
The States Parties to this Convention undertake to respect the rights and freedoms recognized
herein and to ensure to all persons subject to their jurisdiction the free and full exercise of those
rights and freedoms, without any discrimination for reasons of race, color, sex, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, economic status, birth, or any other
social condition.
33
Article 2 of the Convention states:
Where the exercise of any of the rights or freedoms referred to in Article 1 is not already ensured
by legislative or other provisions, the States Parties undertake to adopt, in accordance with their
constitutional processes and the provisions of this Convention, such legislative or other measures
as may be necessary to give effect to those rights or freedoms.
34
Cf. Certification of the positions held by Mrs. Reverón Trujillo. Executive Office of the Magistracy,
General Office of Human Resources, March 28, 2008 (dossier of annexes to the respondent’s plea, Volume
II, annex 31, folio 1247).
35
Cf. order No. 74 issued by the Administrative Chamber of the Judiciary Council on July 16, 1999,
published in the Official Gazette No. 36,753 of July 29, 1999 (dossier of annexes to the application,
Volume I, annex B(2), folios 103 through 105).
36
Cf. certification of positions held by Mrs. Reverón Trujillo, supra note 34, folio 1247.
37
Cf. decision to dismiss of the CFRSJ in the disciplinary process followed against Mrs. Reverón
Trujillo issued by the CFRSJ on February 6, 2002 (dossier of annexes to the application, Volume I, annex
B(4), folio 120).
38
In the brief of final written arguments the representatives explained that within the realm of
Venezuelan criminal jurisdiction, pursuant with the stipulations of the Organic Code of Criminal
Procedures, “judges who have been appointed to occupy First Instance Courts are ‘rotated’ on a yearly
basis through a ‘Rotation Program’ approved by the Appeals Court of the corresponding jurisdiction,
between the courts that make up that instance: the Control Court, Trial Courts, and Execution Courts,”
which “means that each First Instance judge will occupy every year any of the Courts that conform it.”
The Court verifies that Article 536 of the Organic Code of Criminal Procedures states that it corresponds to
the Appeals Court to approve, on a yearly basis, the rotation program for the judges of the First Instance
Courts and Article 107 states that the control judge, trial judge, or execution judge refer to the first
instance judges who exercise control duties, trial duties, and judgment execution duties, respectively. Cf.
Organic Code of Criminal Procedures, supra note 30).