-4the second operative paragraph of the Court’s Order of September 12, 2005 (supra
Having Seen clause No. 2). Costa Rica stated as follows:
a)
as regards the nullification of the judgment rendered on November 12,
1999 by the Criminal Court of the First Judicial Circuit of San José and all the
measures thereby ordered, it stated that, in its Order of January 18, 2006,
the Civil Large Claims Court, ruled that “there was no legal basis for the
petition made by the [agents].” Furthermore, said civil court held that “the
proceeding for the enforcement of [the criminal] judgment has already been
closed,” that “for better or for worse- said proceeding has been carried out,”
that “the affected party is entitled to […] claim from Przedborski-Chawa
reimbursement of the money in question” and that “this Authority may not,
on its own motion, act further to the request.” In view of the ruling of said
court, a petition to Vacate and, alternatively, an Appeal was filed, stating that
the Judgment of November 12, 1999 had been vacated by the Inter-American
Court and the very same criminal Court that had actually rendered it, thus
depriving it of all effects in the civil context, and, therefore, “the fact that
legally there is no final judgment means that, apparently, there is no order
[…] to enforce,” i.e. “[t]he nullification of the former carries the inexistence of
the latter.” The State reported that a decision on that petition is still pending,
and provided copies of the court’s order and the petition and appeal filed;
b)
as regards the obligation to adjust its domestic legal system to the
provisions of Article 8(2)(h) of the American Convention on Human Rights
(hereinafter “the American Convention on Human Rights”), in relation to
Article 2 thereof, it noted that bill No. 15856, for the enactment of a Law
entitled “Relaxation of Criminal Cassation Requirements Law,” “is at a fairly
advanced stage,” and that on October 4, 2005, it was unanimously approved
by the Legislative Assembly’s Permanent Commission on Legal Affairs. The
State provided a copy of such approval opinion and an article published by
the “La Nación” newspaper, and stated that said article “acknowledges and
ratifies the relaxation of the Cassation requirements on the part of the judicial
authorities.” Furthermore, it stated that said law is intended: to reduce the
formalities for filing a writ of cassation; to allow the correction of formal
defects; to allow evidence to be offered at the cassation stage “if the writ is
based on a procedural defect and the court is required to rule on the manner
in which a certain act was performed, in conflict with the records, the trial
transcripts or the judgment [, …] if necessary to support the claim thus
asserted and where a review procedure is also permissible;” to allow a
cassation writ based on ���any of the grounds on which a judgment is allowed
to be reviewed;” to amend the Judiciary’s Organizational Law to increase the
number of alternate judges sitting in courts of cassation; and to have “the
Court of Criminal Cassation [be] made up of independent divisions consisting
of three judges each.” Once the aforementioned conditions have been met,
the Court of Criminal Cassation will hear new cases in which the appropriate
criminal court has rendered judgment as from such date as may be expressly
set by the Supreme Court;” and
c)
as regards the payment
of non-pecuniary damages
and
reimbursement of expenses to Mauricio Herrera-Ulloa, since the State’s
payment of US$ 30,000.00 (thirty thousand United States dollars) did not
account for the interest accrued on the delay in payment, a request was made
through the official letter of October 20, 2005 that the Minister of the
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