180. Accordingly, without prejudice to the duty of State authorities to comply with the judgments
of this Court 261 and to conduct the respective Convention-based judicial review within its jurisdiction,
the Court finds it appropriate to order the State to create within three years a mechanism that follows
existing best practices 262 for reopening judicial investigations and trials, including those that have
exceeded the statute of limitations, when the Court declares in a judgment the State’s international
responsibility for failing to fulfill its duty to investigate human rights violations with diligence and
impartiality.
E.5
Other guarantees of non-repetition requested
181. The Court considers this judgment, as well as the other measures ordered, to be sufficient
and appropriate for remedying the violations suffered by the victims. It therefore does not consider
it necessary to order the additional measures of non-repetition requested by the representatives. 263
F.
Compensation
F.1. Pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage
182.
In this section, the Court will analyze pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage jointly.
183. The Commission asked the Court to order the State of Brazil to provide monetary
compensation for both pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage caused.
184. The representatives asked the Court to order the State to pay the alleged victims an amount
in equity set by the Court for pecuniary damage. They stated that they had made several trips over
261
Article 68 of the American Convention.
Some countries of the region have certain kinds of mechanisms that allow judicial proceedings that have reached a
final judgment to be reopened on the basis of the decisions of international bodies. For example, in Colombia, the Code of
Criminal Procedure (Law 906 of 2004) notes in its Article 192 that a review action is appropriate “(...) When after a judgment
in cases of human rights violations or serious infringements of international humanitarian law, an international body
responsible for supervision and review of human rights—whose jurisdiction the State of Colombia has formally accepted—
issues a ruling declaring the State’s conspicuous failure to fulfill its duty to investigate such violations earnestly and impartially.
In such cases, it is unnecessary to confirm the existence of new facts or evidence that was unknown at the time of the
deliberations.” (Available in Spanish at https://leyes.co/codigo_de_procedimiento_penal/192.htm) Article 123 of Peru's
Constitutional Code of Procedure establishes that the “orders of courts whose jurisdiction the State of Peru has expressly
recognized do not require, for their validity or effectiveness, any prior recognition, review, or evaluation. Those orders are
communicated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the president of the judiciary, who in turn sends them to the court where
domestic remedies had been exhausted and orders the judge with jurisdiction to implement them pursuant to the laws
regulating proceedings for the implementation of judgments issued by supranational courts.” (available in Spanish at
https://busquedas.elperuano.pe/normaslegales/nuevo-codigo-procesal-constitucional-ley-no-31307-1975873-2/). In some
European countries as well, such as Spain and France, the legal framework includes provisions allowing the reconsideration
of a final criminal judgment on the basis of a judgment of the European Court of Human Rights. Article 5 bis of the Spanish
Judiciary Act establishes that “an action for review can be brought before the Supreme Court against a final judicial order, in
accordance with the procedural rules of each jurisdiction, when the European Court of Human Rights has declared that said
order was issued in violation of any of the rights established in the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms or its protocols, if the nature and seriousness of the violation gives rise to persistent effects that cannot be arrested
by any means other than this review” (available in Spanish at https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1985-12666).
Similarly, Article 622-1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of France establishes that “the reconsideration of a final criminal
decision can be requested by any person found guilty of a crime when it results from a judgment issued by the European
Court
of
Human
Rights
[...]”
(available
in
French
at
https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/section_lc/LEGITEXT000006071154/LEGISCTA000006138099/#LEGISCTA000029122
011). In addition, the German Procedural Code establishes in its Article 359 that the “reopening of a trial that has been closed
by final judgment shall be admissible in favor of the convict” when, among other situations: “the European Court of Human
Rights has declared a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms or its protocols and
the judgment is based on that violation.” Available at: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_stpo/englisch_stpo.html.
262
263
The other measures requested (supra para. 167) were: (i) create specialized units within offices of the prosecutor
general at both the federal and state levels; (ii) create a “Commission to Combat Violence against Human Rights Defenders”
that has a diverse membership and that makes information on its cases and activities available to the public; and (iii) carry
out an independent, rigorous, candid assessment of the situation of human rights defenders in the context of land conflicts.
47