15
1) To eliminate from the dossier found in the files of the [CFRSJ] the punishment of dismissal
imposed on the citizen María Cristina Reverón Trujillo, through the administrative act of
February 6, 2002, issued by that Commission.
In this sense, all information that mentions that the previously mentioned citizen was punished
in the previously stated terms shall be deleted from her judicial file, in order to avoid the
formation of possible negative effects in future competitive tenders in which the appellant could
eventually participate, reason for which we order that a certified copy of the present decision
be annexed to the appellant’s administrative case file. […]
2) Given the condition of provisional judge maintained by the appellant up to when the present
appeal was filed and in order to preserve her right to participate in the public competitive
tenders to which she may aspire, as long, naturally, as she fulfills the requirements demanded
in each case, we order her evaluation during the complete period during which she exercised
her judgeship, as well as her inclusion, if requested by her, in the mentioned competitive
tenders.
3) Since the present decision does not order the reinstatement of the judge to the position she
had been occupying, this Chamber abstains from ordering the payment of the salaries she
stopped receiving as of the date of her dismissal. So ordered.47
2.
The right to an effective remedy
56. In the opinion of the Commission and the representatives the violation of Article
25(1) of the Convention occurred precisely because the SPA did not order the
reinstatement or Mrs. Reverón Trujillo to her position and payment of the salaries
she did not perceive. According to the Commission, “the effectiveness of a remedy is
not limited only to the formal declaration of a violation, on the contrary, the right to
access justice implies that the State adopt all the measures necessary to correct that
situation.” Likewise, the Commission stated that the SPA’s decision “necessarily
implied the disposal of all the mechanisms necessary to correct the violation found,”
specifically “the reinstatement to the position and payment of the salaries and
benefits she did not perceive.”
57. The representatives argued that the denial of justice in this case “obeys to the
non-satisfaction of logics and the main consequence of an ordinary legal remedy,
specifically, an appeal for annulment of a dismissal from a public position” and that
“the necessary and indispensable effective result of a judicial remedy that would
determine the illegality of a dismissal is the consistent reinstatement to the position
and the benefits that were not perceived.”
58. On its part, the State held that “the fact that the reparation ordered by [the
SPA] is different to the one expected by the alleged victim, and by the InterAmerican Commission, does not imply that the remedy was not effective, pursuant
with the objective conditions of the specific case.” Those “objective conditions” would
be, according to Venezuela, the process of judicial restructuring the country is going
through and the condition of “provisional judge” of the alleged victim. For the State,
the reparation measures agreed on by the SPA were “appropriate for the case of the
provisional judges.”
59. Article 25(1) of the Convention states, in ample terms, the obligation
corresponding to the States to offer, all people submitted to its jurisdiction, an
effective judicial remedy against acts that violate their fundamental rights. It also
states, that the guarantee enshrined therein applies not only to the rights included in
the Convention, but also to those acknowledged by the Constitution or a law.48 The
47
48
Cf. judgment issued by the SPA on October 13, 2004, supra note 45, folios 183 and 184.
Cf. Judicial Guarantees in States of Emergency (Arts. 27(2), 25, and 8 of the American
Convention on Human Rights). Advisory Opinion OC-9/87 of October 6, 1987, Series A No. 9, para. 23;