IV
ANALYSIS OF THE ADMISSIBILITY OF THE REQUEST FOR INTERPRETATION
8.
Next, the Court will examine the State’s request to determine whether, based on the
rules and standards developed in its case law, it is appropriate to clarify the
meaning or scope of any provision of the judgment.
9.
The Court has indicated that the request or petition for interpretation of a judgment
may not be used as a means of challenging it, but must be made for the sole purpose of
working out the meaning of the decision when one of the parties maintains that the text of
its operative paragraphs or its consideranda is unclear or imprecise, provided those
consideranda affect that operative paragraph. Hence, a request for interpretation may not be
used to seek amendment or nullification or the judgment in question.2
10.
Additionally, the Court has upheld the inadmissibility of using a request for
interpretation to submit considerations on matters of fact and law already raised at the
proper procedural time and on which the Court has already adopted a decision,3 nor to
seek that the Court again assess matters already decided in the judgment.4 Similarly, this
avenue cannot be used to attempt to broaden the scope of a reparation measure ordered in
a timely manner.5
11.
Therefore, the Court will now examine the issues raised by the State, as well as the
observations made by the representatives and the Commission, in the following order: (a)
regarding operative paragraph two; (b) regarding operative paragraph four; (c) regarding
operative paragraph six; (d) regarding operative paragraph seven, and (e) regarding
operative paragraph eight.
A. Regarding operative paragraph two
A.1 Arguments of the parties and the Commission
12.
The State requested the Court to interpret the “scope” of operative paragraph two “as
to respecting and protecting the rights of third parties who already held licenses to operate
their radio stations, such that the State’s actions would not be considered as violations of
basic rights.” It pointed out that the operative paragraph “allows for the possibility” of
situations such as the following: the Superintendency of Telecommunications (hereinafter,
“SIT”) or the Public Prosecutor’s Office must indicate to the usufructuary who files a complaint
not being able to transmit in the radio frequency “to which he or she is entitled,” due to some
interference in the transmission by “an unlicensed (allegedly community) radio station,” that
“there is no mechanism” to “restore his or her usufruct right,” “since it is not possible to bring
legal action against [said] radio station.” Moreover, the State pointed out that this situation
Cf. Case of Loayza Tamayo v. Perú. Interpretation of the judgment on merits. Judgment of March 08, 1998.
Series C No. 47, para. 16, and Case of Casa Nina v. Perú. Interpretation of the judgment on preliminary objections,
merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of September 1, 2021. Series C No. 433, para. 10.
2
Cf. Case of Loayza Tamayo v. Perú. Interpretation of the judgment on reparations and costs, supra, para.
15, and Case of Casa Nina v. Perú. Interpretation of the judgment on preliminary objections, merits, reparations and
costs, supra, para. 11.
3
Cf. Case of Salvador Chiriboga v. Ecuador. Interpretation of the judgment on reparations and costs.
Judgment of August 29, 2011. Series C No. 230, para. 30, and Case of Casa Nina v. Perú. Interpretation of the
judgment on preliminary objections, merits, reparations and costs, supra, para. 11.
4
Cf. Case of Escher et al v. Brazil. Interpretation of the judgment on preliminary objections, merits,
reparations and costs. Judgment of November 20, 2009. Series C No. 208, para. 11, and Case of Casa Nina v. Perú.
Interpretation of the judgment on preliminary objections, merits, reparations and costs, supra, para. 11.
5
3