90. On December 14, 2004, nineteen of the alleged victims lodged a complaint with the Court of Honor of the Pichincha Bar Association, 146 calling on the Pichincha Bar Association to prosecute and punish those lawyers who had accepted appointments as new judges of the Supreme Court, by suspending their exercise of the profession. 147 On March 29, 2005 the Court of Honor of the Pichincha Bar Association stated that “although […] it was[s] not competent to assess and judge the legislative actions of the National Congress, in order to determine the existence or otherwise of the alleged violations, it [was] necessary to analyze whether the Legislative Branch was legally empowered to dismiss the applicants and to appoint, by means of a resolution, the respondents as judges of the Supreme Court.” 148 On this point, the Court of Honor of the Pichincha Bar Association decided to sanction the lawyers who had accepted the position and had taken office. 149 2. Events following the dismissals at Ecuador’s High Courts 91. The dismissal of members of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Justice, triggered a political and social crisis marked by institutional instability. 150 In January 2005 a wave of protests began against the national government, which was considered to have acted in violation of the Constitution and the Rule of Law. 151 92. Once installed, the new Supreme Court of Justice adopted a number of decisions with major political impact. 152 Among those decisions were the annulments of the criminal proceedings against former Presidents Abdalá Bucaram and Gustavo Noboa, and against former Vice-president Alberto Dahik. 153 146 In this regard, the representatives explained that “[t]he Courts of Honor belong to the bar associations and both are subject to private law. Their operation is governed by the Lawyers’ Federation Law and they rule on the professional conduct of a member of the Association. These courts can impose sanctions ranging from a verbal reprimand to temporary loss of membership rights” Cf. Ruling of the Court of Honor of the Pichincha Bar Association March 29, 2005 (File of attachments to the report, volume II, page 497). 147 Cf. Ruling of the Court of Honor of the Pichincha Bar Association March 29, 2005 (File of attachments to the report, volume II, page 497). 148 Cf. Ruling of the Court of Honor of the Pichincha Bar Association March 29, 2005 (File of attachments to the report, volume II, page 503). 149 Cf. Ruling of the Court of Honor of the Pichincha Bar Association March 29, 2005 (File of attachments to the report, volume II, page 506). 150 Cf. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers of August 31, 2005 (File of attachments to the report, volume II, page 525), and Affidavit rendered by expert witness Ruiz Acosta on January 29, 2013 (Merits file, volume III, page 1221). 151 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers of August 31, 2005 (File of attachments to the report, volume II, page 5249); Affidavit rendered by expert witness Ruiz Acosta on January 29, 2013 (Merits file, volume III, page 1220); Press reports in “El Universo” newspaper entitled “Monsignor Luna Tobar firm on street protests” on January 5, 2005 (File of attachments to the report, volume III, page 731), “Civic Convergence for Democracy established yesterday” on January 5, 2005 (File of attachments to the report, volume III, page 732), “Civic Convergence demands constitutional order” on January 7, 2005 (File of attachments to the report, volume III, page 735), and press reports in “El Comercio” newspaper entitled “Quito: marches and repression” (File of attachments to the report, volume VII, page 2095), and “Protests outside the Court heat up” on January 31, 2005 (File of attachments to the report, volume VII, page 2096). 152 Cf. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers of August 31, 2005 (File of attachments to the report, volume II, page 525), and Affidavit rendered by expert witness Ruiz Acosta on January 29, 2013 (Merits file, volume III, page 1229). 153 Cf. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers of August 31, 2005 (File of attachments to the report, volume II, page 524), and Affidavit rendered by expert witness Ruiz Acosta on January 29, 2013 (Merits file, volume III, page 1221). 32