37
119. Regarding the first objection raised by the representatives of the alleged victim and
resolved by the High Court of Justice, notwithstanding that each of the rights contained in
the Convention has its own sphere, meaning, and scope,122 the Court considers that the
alleged damages suffered by Mr. Alibux are encompassed within the aforementioned
violation of the right to appeal the judgment. 123 As a result, the Court does not consider it
necessary to make additional determinations with respect to the violation of the right to
judicial protection set forth in Article 25 of the Convention, as the consequences of the
damages described in his allegations are subsumed in the considerations in chapter VII-2 of
this Judgment.
120. In relation to the issues arising from the second preliminary objection, the Court notes
that the High Court of Justice ruled on the objection filed. Furthermore, the Court reiterates
that the IPOHA consisted of a regulatory instrument that, in this case, did not represent a
violation of Article 9 of the Convention (supra para. 76).
121. Meanwhile, the three other interlocutory objections related to the jurisdiction of the
High Court of Justice referred to: i) the invalidity of the December 27, 2002 Order of the
High Court of Justice, in which a brief submitted by the attorneys of the alleged victim was
ruled inadmissible, as Article 230 of the Code of Criminal Procedure did not grant it the
power to determine the inadmissibility of briefs presented by the alleged victim; ii) the
Prosecutor General submitted the case file of the criminal investigation in its entirety to the
National Assembly, which was inconsistent with the provisions of Articles 3 and 5 of the
IPOHA; and iii) the Prosecutor General acted pursuant to the instructions of the Speaker of
the National Assembly, contrary to the terms established in Article 2 of the IPOHA and
Article 145 of the Constitution.
122. In regard to the three formal objections detailed above, the High Court of Justice
stated that, due to the fact that the request for the indictment was approved by the
National Assembly, it considered it inappropriate to render additional decisions in this regard
in consideration that the Constitution did not grant it jurisdiction for such purposes (supra
para. 46).
123. In this sense, according to the information provided by the parties, the Court
considers that the interlocutory objections that were filed (supra para. 121) consisted of
questions on the proceedings that occurred before the National Assembly, and were not
specifically related to any arguments regarding the constitutionality of the IPOHA. Through
the Resolution of June 12, 2003, the High Court of Justice held that the Constitution did not
grant it jurisdiction to review the actions performed by the National Assembly with regards
to the approval process for indictments of political office holders. In light of the foregoing,
this Court finds that the High Court of Justice did not state that it lacked jurisdiction to hear
matters of a constitutional nature, and that the questions posed were answered by the High
Court of Justice, with attention to their character as preliminary objections.
124. Finally, in relation to the arguments of the representative and the Commission (supra
paras. 112 and 113) on the violation of the right to judicial protection due to the absence of
a Constitutional Court, although the Court recognizes the importance of such bodies as
protectors of constitutional mandates and fundamental rights, the American Convention
does not impose a specific model for the regulation of issues of constitutionality and control
122
Cf. Case of Manuel Cepeda Vargas V. Colombia. Preliminary Objections, Merits and Reparaciones. Judgment
of May 26, 2010. Series C No. 213, para. 171 and Case of García and Family V. Guatemala. Merits, Reparations
and Costs. Judgment of November 29, 2012. Series C No. 258, para 122.
123
Cf. Case of Barreto Leiva, supra, para. 102, and Case of Mohamed, supra, paras. 118 and 119.