- 42 130. On October 9, 2009, the Personnel Management Directorate opened a disciplinary proceeding
against Mr. Chévez and summoned him to answer the charges.235 On December 3, 2009, a hearing
was held where Mr. Chévez presented the corresponding rebuttal and, inter alia, proposed evidence
that was admitted subsequently.236 On April 20, 2010, the Personnel Management Directorate
issued its final report and recommended that Mr. Chévez be removed:
Based on non-compliance with or serious violation of one of his duties and committing acts that
were inimical to the dignity of the administration of justice, by having taken part in a
demonstration, being arrested for […] executing acts that disrupted public order, […] and having
clashed with other judicial employees on the premises of the Judiciary owing to his political
position in relation to the events that had occurred in the country.237
131. On May 5, 2010, the plenum of the Supreme Court of Justice approved the Personnel
Management Directorate’s recommendation to dismiss Mr. Chévez de la Rocha and appointed a
committee of three justices “to draw up the respective resolution and then to issue the
corresponding decision on his removal.”238 The case file contains a resolution with the same date,
signed by the President and the Secretary of the Supreme Court that, apparently following up on
the order of the plenum of the Court, sets out “the corresponding grounds, which have been
approved, adding the date of the plenary meeting.”239 Nevertheless, this resolution was not notified
to Mr. Chévez de la Rocha.240 On May 21, 2010, the presumed victims filed a joint request for
reconsideration of their sanctions of dismissal before the Supreme Court, pointing out that they had
become aware of the May 5 decisions through the media, but they had not received the
corresponding resolutions.241
132. On June 4, 2010, the Supreme Court issued a ruling on the dismissal; the only justification
included was the following:
THE SUPREME COURT OF JUSTICE HEREBY DECIDES: (1) To dismiss attorney LUIS ALONSO
CHÉVEZ DE LA ROCHA from the position of judge of the Special Court for cases involving
Domestic Violence of the department of Cortés, for non-compliance with or serious violation of
some of his duties and engaging in conduct inimical to the dignity of the administration of
justice, by having participated in a demonstration in San Pedro Sula, Cortés, on August 12,
2009, near the Monument to the Mother and the downtown area. He was arrested by the
National Preventive Police Force for breaching public order, and released when an application
for habeas corpus was granted. He also clashed with other judicial officers on the premises of
the Judiciary owing to his political position in relation to the events that occurred in the
country. Articles 80, 82, 90(1), 303, 313(i)(8), 318, 319, 322 and 323 of the Constitution of
the Republic; XXXIII of the Universal Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man; 1, 3, 4(2),
235
Cf. Decision of the Personnel Management Directorate of October 9, 2009 (evidence file, folios 1384 and 1385).
236
Cf. Record of the rebuttal hearing of the Personnel Management Directorate of December 3, 2009 (evidence file, folios
1421 to 1437), and decision of the Personnel Management Directorate of December 7, 2009 (evidence file, folios 1466 to
1468).
237
Decision of the Personnel Management Directorate of April 20, 2010 (evidence file, folio 1555).
238
This decision appears in Minutes No. 24 of the session initiated by the plenum of the Supreme Court of Justice on May 5,
2010, and ended on May 7, 2010. These minutes were not notified to the presumed victims; rather a certified copy was
issued at the request of Ramón Enrique Barrios and Tirza Flores Lanza on June 25, 2010 (evidence file, folios 5643 and 5644).
239
Ruling of the Supreme Court of Justice of May 5, 2010 (evidence file, folios 1564 to 1571).
240
The victims and their representatives have repeatedly stated that they were not notified of these decisions. The State
has not contested this assertion and there is no record in the disciplinary files that the said decisions were notified to them.
241
Cf. Brief of the request for reconsideration received on May 21, 2011, signed by Adán Guillermo López Lone, Luis Alonso
Chévez de la Rocha, Ramón Enrique Barrios and Tirza Flores Lanza and addressed to the Supreme Court of Justice (evidence
file, folio 1127).