Case: Constitutional Court (Camba Campos and others) v Ecuador. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and Costs

Descriptors: Judicial independence / Right to be heard / Right to judicial protection and an effective remedy / Judicialn independence procedural guarantees

The case deals with the facts related to the dismissal of eight members of the Constitutional Court of Ecuador by means of a resolution of the National Congress in 2004, officials against whom a political trial was initiated in which the violation of the respective procedural guarantees was alleged. Likewise, the appellants denounce that they were arbitrarily deprived of their right to an effective remedy, especially the recurso de amparo before the Constitutional Court itself.

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights considers that during the impeachment process different procedural guarantees were violated for the appellants, including: the right to be heard, since those affected by the dismissal did not have the opportunity to appear before the National Congress, as well as the non bis in idem principle, because once the procedure was completed without the dismissal of any responsibility whatsoever, an extraordinary session was held to prosecute them again for the same facts and, in this case, to approve their dismissal. All of which caused them obvious helplessness.

For the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the irregularities during the political trial and the impossibility of accessing the recurso de amparo constitute a violation of judicial independence, and the specific procedural guarantees that must protect the independent exercise of judicial work, officials who are also it deprived them of their right to enjoy judicial protection. Therefore, in its judgment, the Inter-American Court considers that Article 8 paragraphs 1, 2 and 4, in relation to 1.1 of the American Convention on Human Rights, have been violated.

Read the decision