23 89. The IACHR must point out that the established precedent of the inter-American system holds that the guarantee of an effective remedy is one of the basic pillars of the Convention. That means that for the State to be in compliance with Article 25 of the Convention, those resources must not only exist: they must be effective in accordance with the rules of due legal process, serve to restore the 117 infringed right, if possible, and redress the harm produced. This is particularly applicable, since their purpose should be to avoid and combat impunity. 90. A remedy is effective when it produces the outcome for which it was designed; it is therefore not effective if it is illusory or excessively onerous for the victim, or when the State has not ensured its proper application by the judicial authorities. The IACHR has established that in determining the simplicity, celerity, and effectiveness of a remedy, the following must be taken into account: the possibility of establishing the existence of violations of basic rights offered by the resource; the possibility of remedying them; and the possibility of repairing the damage done and of punishing those 118 responsible. In turn, the Inter-American Court has said that remedies involving a pattern of denial of justice cannot be deemed effective, such as when there is an unwarranted delay in issuing a decision, or 119 when, for any reason, the alleged victim is denied access to a judicial remedy. 91. Consequently, the Commission believes that both Ecuador’s investigating system and criminal justice system were ineffective and contributed to the impunity in the case at hand, by reason of the negligence and failures of the authorities responsible for bringing and pursuing the proceedings. The Commission further notes that in these criminal proceedings –associated with a State duty such as the monitoring of care and health services- the passage of time had a significant impact on the victims, given the triggering of statutory limitations and the consequent inability to secure justice. For that reason, the judicial authorities should have ensured that the proceedings were conducted with greater diligence in 120 order to resolve the case with dispatch. c. Procedural activity of the affected persons 92. The Commission again states that Melba Peralta Mendoza, as an affected person, lodged a criminal complaint on behalf of her daughter, with the aspiration of securing justice and fair compensation and allowing her to meet the costs of the medical treatments needed to resolve the weakened health situation of Melba del Carmen Suárez Peralta. 93. First of all, the Commission reiterates that the obligation of pursuing criminal proceedings in the case at hand lay solely with the State, as indicated by its own laws. In a criminal case, analyzing the actions of the affected persons may be of relevance in order to determine whether their behavior had any sort of delaying effect. …Cont. Report on Situation of Human Rights in Ecuador, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.96, Doc. 10 rev. 1, April 24, 1997, Chapter III, available at:: http://www.cidh.oas.org/countryrep/Ecuador-sp/indice.htm . 117 See, for example: I/A Court H. R., Case of Albán Cornejo et al. v. Ecuador, Judgment of November 22, 2007, Series C No. 171, para. 61. 118 See also: IACHR, Report No.34/98, Loren Laroye Riebe Star, Jorge Barón Guttlein, and Rodolfo Izal Elorz, May 5, 1998, para. 81. Access to Justice as a Guarantee of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. A Review of the Standards Adopted by the Inter-American System of Human Rights, OEA/Ser.L/V./II.129 Doc. 4, September 7, 2007, para. 248. 119 I/A Court H. R., 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. 24. See also: I/A Court H. R., Case of Bámaca Velásquez v. Guatemala, Judgment of November 25, 2000, Series C No. 70, para. 191; Case of Ivcher Bronstein v. Peru, Judgment of February 6, 2001, Series C No. 74, para. 137. See also: Access to Justice as a Guarantee of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. A Review of the Standards Adopted by the Inter-American System of Human Rights, OEA/Ser.L/V./II.129 Doc. 4, September 7, 2007, para. 251. 120 155. I/A Court H. R., Case of Valle Jaramillo et al. v. Colombia, Judgment of November 27, 2008, Series C No. 192, para.