the restriction of constitutional guarantees.” In addition, it indicated “that the
Ombudsman […] has the authority to file [the application] […] when appropriate.” The
State also indicated that the amparo proceeding “is oral and public, brief, free of charge,
and exempt from formalities [...], the competent judicial authority having full powers to
restore the legal rights infringed.” In addition, it indicated that, “in Judgment No. 165
(13/02/2001), the Constitutional Chamber, as the ultimate interpreter of the rights
enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic, made an extensive interpretation of the
provisions contained in both the Constitution and the laws concerning the application for
protection of liberty and personal guarantees.”12 In brief, it declared that, from the
normative and interpretive development of the Constitution and from the law, it can be
seen that the State admits the application for habeas corpus “as broadly as possible.”
18.
The representatives indicated that the information presented by the State “reveals
the limited jurisprudential development made by the Constitutional Chamber of the
Supreme Court of Justice on the matter of habeas corpus.” They also noted that “no bill
existed to adapt the application for habeas corpus to the parameters required [by] the
Court” on the National Assembly’s 2009 legislative program and this would constitute
failure to comply with the State’s obligations. In this regard, the representatives
indicated that, “under domestic law, bills may be presented on the [...] initiative of the
Executive,” a mechanism that “the State has not used either.”
19.
The Commission observed that, although the State’s report of December 2006
described some measures undertaken to ensure that the Legislature complied with this
aspect of the judgment, in subsequent reports, the State “failed to provide any
information on the progress of this bill.” Consequently, the Commission asked the Court
to require the State to submit detailed information on the measures adopted or planned
to comply with this obligation.
20.
Regarding the State’s observations, the Court recalls that, although this measure
of reparation requires the State to adopt “the legislative or any other measures that may
be required to ensure that applications for habeas corpus can be implemented effectively
in Venezuela in situations of forced disappearance,” it is also certain that “[t]o this end,
the State must take into account the scope of habeas corpus in light of international
norms on the matter and, in particular, the case law of this Court, in the sense that the
said remedy constitutes the appropriate means to guarantee the liberty of the individual,
and to monitor respect for his or her life and integrity, as well as to prevent their
disappearance or uncertainty about their place of detention.”13 In this regard, the Court
finds that the State has not provided information or documentation showing that it has
taken specific, effective measures to comply with this aspect, because the jurisprudence
cited does not reveal that this is appropriate and necessary to meet the requirements of
the judgment.
21.
Based on the foregoing, the Court considers that this aspect remains pending;
therefore the State must adopt all necessary measures to comply with it promptly and
effectively. In this regard, the Court finds it pertinent to reiterate that the treaty-based
obligations of the States Parties are binding on all their powers and organs (supra fourth
12
According to the information presented by the State, “the criteria of the Constitutional Chamber is that
the admissibility of the application for habeas corpus depends on the detention having been imposed by an
administrative, police or judicial authority, in violation of constitutional norms, and only in those cases in which
the authorities exceed their legal powers or owing to the duration of the detention, can the deprivation of
liberty be considered illegal.” In addition, according to the State, this citation of the Constitutional Chamber
constitutes reiterated jurisprudence.
13
Case of Blanco Romero et al. v. Venezuela, supra note 8, para. 104.
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