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REPORT Nº 14/97
On Admissibility
Case 11.381
NICARAGUA
March 12, 1997
I.
SUMMARY
1.
In 1993, the employees of the Nicaraguan Customs Service
conducted a strike which was declared illegal.
The strikers were dismissed from their jobs, even though several
court rulings after the strike ordered that they be given their jobs
back. One year later, the
Supreme Court of Justice also issued, in response to an appeals
proceeding, a ruling related to events in 1992 involving other workers.
This ruling showed, according to the petitioners, that there was
an obvious error of law which has left the 142 victims completely
defenseless and constitutes a serious violation of the their human
rights. This is
particularly true of the right to a fair trial, freedom of association,
the right to compensation for court error, and the right to judicial
protection under the American Convention on Human Rights.
II.
BACKGROUND
a.
The events
2.
According to the description of events contained in the
complaint, in May of 1993, the customs service workers went on strike
after trying unsuccessfully to negotiate a series of requests with the
Ministry of Labor. The
demands were for, among others, nominal reclassification of the specific
and common positions in the General Directorate of Customs, job
stability, 20% indexing of wages, pegged to devaluation, and others.
3.
Through the Ministry of Labor, the State of Nicaragua resolved,
on May 27, 1993, to declare the workers' strike illegal.
The State charged that Article 227 of the Labor Code did not
extend the right to strike to public or social service workers.
4.
On June 7, 1993, the customs service workers filed an appeal
against the Ministry of Labor's declaration of illegal strike.
5.
On June 9 and 10, 1993, serious confrontations broke out between
the workers and the national police force.
The workers were hit and the police used tear gas, clubs and
firearms against them. Almost
50 workers were arrested and 30 were accused of crimes.
These persons were later cleared of the charges against them by
the justice system.
6.
On June 24, 1993, the Appeals Court issued a ruling suspending
the effects of the Ministry of Labor's resolution.
The implication of this was that the workers should be allowed to
return to their positions, and that all the dismissals that the custom
service had initiated arbitrarily should be suspended.
Despite this, the customs authorities still dismissed 142
employees, most of whom were local labor leaders.
In addition, the Director General of Labor issued a notification
on July 7, 1993, ordering that the dismissed workers be rehired, along
with the employees who had been arbitrarily accused of crimes.
Later on, the Supreme Court of Justice itself issued an official
court order calling for compliance with the Appeals Court ruling.
None of these court orders was carried out.
7.
In addition, even though the Rights Protection Law gives a term
of 90 days to resolve an appeal, the Supreme Court of Justice issued
ruling No. 44-94 one year after this law was invoked, that is, on June
12, 1994, confirming the Ministry of Labor's ruling with respect to the
illegality of the strike. The
reasons that the judges gave for their decision were the events of
February 1992, that is, events that took place one year before the
customs workers' strike. They
argued that the workers had put obstacles on the landing field, which
had occurred in the case of the AERONICA employees.
8.
As a consequence of that court error and the arbitrary actions of
the administrative authorities, 142 employees were dismissed.
Depending on these persons are 600 others, more than half of whom
are children.
b.
Alleged violations
9.
The claimants say that Articles 8 (right to a fair trial), 10
(right to compensation for judicial error), 16 (freedom of association)
and 25 (right to judicial protection), embodied in the American
Convention on Human Rights were violated by the State of Nicaragua.
III.
PROCEEDINGS WITH THE COMMISSION
10. On
June 7, 1994, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter
called the Commission), received the complaint relating to the 142
customs workers of Nicaragua. The complaint was amended by addition on September 13 of the
same year by including the names of each of these persons. On
September 21, 1994, the Commission entered the case of Milton García
Fajardo and others as No. 11.381, and transmitted to the State of
Nicaragua the pertinent parts of the petition.
The Commission asked the State to furnish information about the
material events of that complaint within a term of ninety days.
It further asked for any evidence that would enable it to
determine whether all the remedies under domestic law had been exhausted
in this case.
11. The
State of Nicaragua responded on October 27, 1994, within the
aforementioned term. In its
letter, the State requested the Commission to declare case 11.381
inadmissible on the grounds of Articles 47(d) of the Convention and
39(b) of the Commission's regulations since the case was pending
settlement under another international government organization.
The State further stated that the Trade Union Freedom Committee
of the International Labour Organization (ILO) had taken up the case, as
No. 1719, dated June 9, 1993, pursuant to a claim originally filed
by the Sandinista Workers Central and the National Union of Employees.
12. In
a letter dated November 7, 1994, the Commission transferred to the
petitioners the pertinent parts of the initial response from the State
and gave the petitioners a term of 45 days to forward their own
observations.
13. On
December 21, 1994, the petitioners submitted their observations to the
State's response to the Commission.
Their observations are summarized as follows:
The grounds for inadmissibility presented by the State do not
apply since the violations charged in the two international cases are
not the same.
The parties to the two cases are the same, in that in both the
Commission and the ILO cases, the defendant is the State of Nicaragua
and the victims are the same 142 customs workers.
Nevertheless, the charges and the events explained to support
them are completely different. The
claim with the ILO is for violations of labor rights under national law
by the State of Nicaragua and under Conventions Nos. 87 and 98 of the
Organization, and the events in that case took place on June 3, 1993.
On the other hand, the claim with the Commission stems strictly
from the aforementioned ruling No. 44 which violates the human rights
recognized in the American Convention on Human Rights.
For this reason, the claim with the Commission is not
substantially a reproduction of the one pending resolution by the ILO.
According to Article 39, clause 2(a) of its regulations, the
Commission may not refrain from taking up and examining a claim when,
"the procedure followed before the other organization or agency is
one limited to an examination of the general situation on human rights
in the State in question and there has been no decision on the specific
facts that are the subject of the petition submitted to the Commission,
or is one that will not lead to an effective settlement of the violation
denounced."
The proceeding established by the ILO does not constitute an
international examination or settlement under the meaning of Article 39
and therefore, it would not constitute a reparation of the damage caused
for the violation denounced, since it is well known that the ILO only
makes recommendations or rulings that entail no legal but only a moral
obligation.
14. On
February 14, 1995, the Commission transmitted to the State of Nicaragua
the content of the observations made by the claimants to the information
furnished by the State.
15. On
March 24, 1995, the petitioners furnished additional information and
reiterated that the Supreme Court had decided in its ruling No. 44,
dated June 2, 1994, on the basis of the events that occurred in
February, 1992, while the events that were the grounds for the appeal
occurred in May and June of 1993, which is when the customs workers went
on strike. They also
maintained that the Supreme Court of Justice issued its ruling on the
appeal one year later, even though the Rights Protection Law mandates a
term of 90 days for the decision.
16. In
a letter dated March 30, 1995, the State of Nicaragua gave its reply to
the formulations made by the petitioners.
That reply contends that the customs workers' strike began in May
1993, and the Sandinista Workers Central and the National Union of
Employees filed their complaint with the ILO on June 6, 1993.
In other words, this was before presentation of the claim to the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Likewise, the State points out that the petitioners have
recognized that in both cases, before the ILO and the Commission, the
parties are the State of Nicaragua and the victims are the 142 customs
workers and that the two petitions deal with the same events.
17. The
State adds in the same letter that the petitioners pointed out that the
ILO Trade Union Freedom Committee confines itself to examining the
general status of human rights in the State in question and that the
claim with the ILO is for a violation of labor rights by the State of
Nicaragua while the claim before the Commission refers to the violation
of the human rights recognized by the Convention.
It also adds that the petitioners: "in one paragraph
express, saying that labor rights are human rights, that only the former
(labor rights) can be the subject of a claim with the ILO and in another
paragraph, in their attempt to justify the lack of competence of this
inter-governmental agency, they contend that the ILO examines the
general situation of human rights in Nicaragua."
18. On
April 4, 1995, the Commission transferred the contents of the reply
prepared by the State of Nicaragua in relation to this case to the
petitioners.
19. On
May 30, 1995, the Commission transmitted to the State of Nicaragua the
pertinent parts of the additional information provided by the claimants.
20. The
petitioners submitted their observations in a letter dated June 8, 1995.
In this letter they refer to their previous letter of April 30
and request the Commission to rule on the conflict of competencies that
has arisen because the ILO Trade Union Freedom Committee and the
Inter-American Commission are both hearing case 11.381.
21. On
July 12, 1995, the Commission transmitted to the State the contents of
the additional information furnished by the claimants.
22. In
June and July 1995, many letters were received from the petitioners.
These letters describe the financial situations these people are
in as a result of their dismissals and reiterate that the grounds for
their claim is the judicial error contained in ruling No. 44 of the
Supreme Court of Justice. They
add that the Director General of Labor issued, on July 6, 1993, an order
to restore the workers to their positions but the Director General of
Customs has failed to comply with it and they remain unemployed.
23. On
July 13, 1995, the Commission transmitted to the State of Nicaragua the
pertinent parts of the additional information furnished by the
claimants.
24. On
October 3, 1995, the State of Nicaragua provided additional information
in connection with case No. 11.381.
This information contains attachments that deal with the
recommendations made to the State of Nicaragua by the Trade Union
Freedom Committee pertaining to case No. 1719.
The State also attached a letter, dated September 22, 1994,
signed by the Nicaraguan Minister of Labor and addressed to the Director
of the ILO International Labor Standards Department which took up the
case before that international agency.
That letter points out the following:
I believe that the Trade Union Freedom Committee is not competent
to take up the fairness or lack of it of a resolution by the highest
court of justice. Any
citizen who submits a matter to a court for a ruling is obligated to
respect and abide by the decision that the court issues, especially if
this is the highest court of appeal, as is the case before us.
Similarly, based on the separation of state powers, the Executive
Branch must respect whatever the court authority orders.
25. On
October 12, 1995, the Commission transmitted to the petitioners the
contents of the information provided by the State.
26. On
November 2, 1995, the contents of the additional information provided by
the claimants pertaining to the status of workers were remitted to the
State. This additional
information reiterates that the foundation of their petition relates to
the judicial error of ruling No. 44, dated June 2, 1994, handed down by
the Supreme Court of Justice.
27. On
January 23, 1996, the Commission remitted to the State the contents of
the observations made by the claimants to the response given by the
State on October 3, 1995. In their observations, the claimants contend:
"...that the primary objective of the petition in this case
is to make the State of Nicaragua responsible, since one of its
agencies, the Supreme Court of Justice, has acted irregularly and caused
damages to the workers by performing the function of the court in the
name of the State." For
this reason, the petitioners reject the argument of the State that this
a matter pending under another international agency and they reiterate
that the contents of the petition formulated to the ILO deal with the
violation of labor rights which occurred prior to issue of ruling No.
44. As a result, the
petition filed with the Inter-American Commission, as they have been
explaining in their many letters, deals with the error contained in the
aforementioned ruling.
28. During
the months of March and April 1996, the Commission continued receiving
many letters from the workers who explained their financial situations
since the date on which they were dismissed.
Those letters were remitted on a timely basis to the State of
Nicaragua.
IV.
CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT ADMISSIBILITY
29. Having
seen the antecedents and the processing of the claim mentioned in the
preceding paragraphs, the Commission considered the conditions for
admissibility of case 11.381 in the following terms:
IV.1. COMPETENCE OF THE COMMISSION
30. The
Commission may take up a case submitted to it for consideration whenever
prima facie the case meets the formal requirements of
admissibility set out in Articles 46 of the Convention and 32 of the
Commission's regulations.
31. The
competence, ratione loci, empowers the Commission to take up
petitions pertaining to violations of human rights that affect an
individual subject to the jurisdiction of a state party to the American
Convention. Considering
that the events described in the claim occurred within the territory of
the Republic of Nicaragua, a state party to the Convention since
September 25, 1979, the Commission is permitted to take up the case
involving Milton García Fajardo and others.
32. In
casu, the claim presented by the petitioners refers to events that
characterize presumed violations of the following Articles:
8 (right to a fair trial), 16 (freedom of association), 10
(compensation for court error) and 25 (right to judicial protection),
all of them contained in the American Convention on Human Rights, to
which Nicaragua is a state party. Consequently,
the Inter-American Commission is competent, ratione materiae, to
take up this case in conformity with Articles 44 and 47(b) of that
international instrument.
33. The
Commission believes that there are no reasons to allow the allegation
that the claim is manifestly incorrectly grounded since the petitioners
have shown that the presumed violation is chargeable to a state organ or
agent, as established in Article 47(c) of the Convention.
The paragraphs pertaining to the examination of exhaustion of
domestic remedies point out that the presumed violations would be the
result of actions or omissions committed by officials of the Ministry of
Labor and of the Judicial Branch of the State of Nicaragua.
34. The
Commission believes that the events that are the grounds for the
complaint are capable of being resolved through application of the
friendly settlement procedure provided for in Article 48(1.f) of the
Convention and Article 45 of its regulations.
For this reason, the Commission puts itself at the disposal of
the parties for the purpose of reaching a friendly settlement of the
matter, based on respect for human rights.
IV.2. ALLEGED
DUPLICATION OF PROCEEDINGS AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL
35. In
the course of processing of this case, the State of Nicaragua has
requested that the petition be disallowed on the grounds that two
procedures are under way. For
this reason, the Commission will examine this requirement for
admissibility first of all. For
this purpose the positions taken by the two parties shall be explained
in the following paragraphs:
a)
The State's position
36. The
State of Nicaragua has argued in its replies and observations to case
11.381 that the Inter-American Commission should refrain from taking up
this case since another proceeding involving it is under way at the
international level. According
to the State, a petition was submitted to the ILO Trade Union Freedom
Committee on June 6, 1993, that is, prior to the claim submitted to the
Commission. The claim to
the Commission was filed on June 7, 1994.
Consequently the State requests the Commission to declare the
present case inadmissible, on the grounds of Article 47(d) of the
Convention and Article 39(b) of its regulations.
b)
The claimants' position
37. The
claimants have pointed out that this ground for inadmissibility does not
apply in this case since the violations charged in the two international
cases are not the same. While
it is true that the events in the two cases are the same, the rights
that have presumably been violated are different and an ILO decision
does not lead to any effective settlement of the violation denounced.
This is because the claim to the ILO makes reference to State
reprisals and excessive use of force by the police to end the customs
workers' strike while the claim before the Inter-American Commission
relates to violations of due process in domestic court proceedings, a
matter that the ILO Trade Union Freedom Committee did not take up. Considerations
of the Commission regarding the duplication of proceedings with
international agencies:
38. It
is important to point out that inadmissibility of a petition owing to
duplication of proceedings with the Inter-American Commission must be
grounded on the following reasons:
A)
It is a requirement for admissibility that the subject of the
petition or communication not be pending in another international
proceeding for settlement (Article 46.1.c of the American Convention).
The implication is that the charges must be objectively and
subjectively the same for the petition to be declared inadmissible:
- With respect to the similarity of the subject or the
aspirations of the claim:
i)
The claim before the Commission deals with violations of freedom
to association, the right to compensation for judicial error, violation
of the right to a fair trial and violation of the right to judicial
protection. These are
Articles 16, 10, 8 and 25, respectively, of the American Convention on
Human Rights.
ii)
The claim before the Trade Union Freedom Committee was a
complaint filed because of serious violations in the area of trade union
freedom which occurred in Nicaragua in June 1993.
With respect to the customs workers, the complaint refers to
repression of these workers' trade union rights, and the violation of
Convention 87 (the Convention on Trade Union Freedom and the Protection
of the Right to Organize) and Convention 98 (the Convention on the Right
to Organize and Collective Bargaining) of the ILO.
39. In
this sense, the provisions of Article 47(d) of the American Convention
are clearly involved, in that it provides as follows:
The Commission shall consider inadmissible any petition or
communication submitted under Articles 44 or 45 if:
...
d.
the petition or communication is substantially the same as one
previously studied by the Commission or by another international
organization.
40. Article
47(d) refers, then, to an identical claim, by using the words,
"substantially the same," filed with different
international organizations, a situation which, as pointed out before,
was not the case at any time here.
41. In
this sense, the United Nations Civil and Political Rights Committee
usually admits complaints taken up in other international organizations
if the complaint refers to rights recognized by the Pact on Civil and
Political Rights, and are not established in the other international
instrument that is being applied simultaneously even though the
complaints are similar in terms of events.[1]
42. Another
aspect relates to the claimants being the same in both cases.
The victims are the same in the two complaints that have been
filed, that is, with the ILO and the Inter-American Commission.
The exception is that the complaint with the ILO was filed by the
Sandinista Workers Central and Rural Workers Association.
This case involves not only the problem of the customs workers
but also constitutes a review of the labor status of the Rural Workers
Association, Public Administration, the Banco Nacional de Desarrollo,
the Education Employees Union (ANDEN), the Manufacturing and Affiliated
Workers of the Sandinista Workers Central, as well as a variety of other
events of trade union repression in duty free areas and repression of
workers filing claims for chemical contamination.
B)
The Inter-American Commission will continue hearing the case and lis
pendens will not pertain insofar as the case does not involve a
decision on the specific events that are the subject of the petition
submitted to the Commission and the decision by the international
organization does not lead to an effective settlement of this situation
in question.
In effect, Article 39.2(a) of the Commission's regulations
provides the exceptions for which the Commission is not refrained from
taking up the present case:
i)
When there has been no decision on the specific facts that are
the subject of the petition submitted to the Commission
43. A
pertinent point is that the Trade Union Freedom Committee ruled in its
report 304 on the recommendations pertaining to the effective violation
of the trade union rights of several trade union groups in Nicaragua as
a result of the complaint filed by the Sandinista Workers Central and
the Rural Workers Association.
44. Consistent
with its competence and the charges raised by those trade union groups,
the Committee's recommendation refers to the right to strike and trade
union freedom, and at no time deals with arbitrary court rulings and
errors, and unjustified delay in the administration of justice, as are
alleged in this petition. The
ILO decision states:
In this connection, the Committee wishes to recall that the
recognition of the principle of trade union freedom for public employees
does not necessarily imply the right to strike....In this sense,
observing that in this case almost all the trade union leaders and
members who were involved in the strike rendered service to different
customs agencies of the country--services whose workers can be
considered public officers performing authority functions in behalf of
the State--the Committee believes that preventing these workers from
striking is not contrary to the principles of trade union freedom,
particularly considering that the workers in question enjoy compensatory
guarantees specifically through negotiations under the reconciliation
board.
Nevertheless, the Committee wishes to recall that massive
dismissals of strikers imply serious risks of abuses and a serious
danger for trade union freedom; the competent authorities should receive
appropriate instructions to avoid the risks that discharges such as
these can represent for trade union freedom....In these conditions, the
Committee makes a call to the government to undertake efforts, for the
purpose of encouraging the renewal of harmonious working relations, to
undertake the return of the UNE trade union leaders and members
discharged from customs work to their work positions. The Committee requests the government to keep it informed in
this regard.
45. As
can be concluded from the foregoing recommendation, the Trade Union
Freedom Committee reviewed the right to strike, as an essential
component of trade union freedom, and condemned the discharge of trade
union leaders for this reason, but at no time did it refer to the
arbitrary actions that were committed in the court proceedings involved
in this case such as unjustified delay and the judicial error on which
ruling No. 44-94 of the Nicaraguan Supreme Court of Justice was based.
46. The
fact that the ILO frames the right of trade union organization as a
fundamental right does not mean that the civil and political rights are
exhausted in a single right, but rather that the right of trade union
organization is a substantial labor right.
The allegation of its violation, however, does not bar charges
that other civil and political rights were violated in other spheres, as
has occurred in the case of Milton García Fajardo and others, which is
now before the Commission.
ii)
When the decision of the international organization will not lead
to an effective settlement of the violation denounced
47. The
recommendation made by the Trade Union Freedom Committee does not entail
any binding effect, either pecuniary or restorative, or indemnitory, on
the Nicaraguan State. Taking into account that the complaint to the ILO encompassed
only the violation of trade union freedom, the recommendation that the
ILO body issued does not deal with the violations of due process charged
in the complaint filed with the Commission.
The Committee would not be competent to rule on this issue since
that would involve matters that were not charged in the case before it,
which thus would be a violation of the principle of ultra petita.
IV.3.
EXHAUSTION OF INTERNAL REMEDIES
48. Article
46 of the Convention requires for admissibility of a complaint that all
remedies under domestic law have been exhausted in accordance with the
principles of international law.
49. As
has been established in connection with the events that were narrated
above, the customs employees availed themselves of all court remedies
established for the case under domestic law.
The resolutions of the Appeals Court of June 24, 1993, and ruling
No. 44-94 of the Supreme Court of Justice together exhausted the
remedies under domestic Nicaraguan law.
50. Taking
into account the nature of this case, which started with a labor
conflict, for which domestic legislation provides exhaustion through
administrative remedies and then judicial remedies, the Commission shall
proceed to outline the remedies exhausted by the claimants.
51. With
respect to clause a. of Article 46.2 of the Convention, the Commission
will proceed to analyze whether the petitioners exhausted the remedies
available to them under domestic legislation in both administrative and
court proceedings, taking as its foundation the letters and information
contained in the file which were remitted in good time to the State.
A.
Exhaustion of the procedure established at the administrative
level
52. On
March 8, 1993, the customs employees submitted a list of petitions to
the Departmental Office of Inspection of the Ministry of Labor in
Managua, and initiated, at the same time, a round of negotiations
between the Executive Board of the Trade Union and the authorities of
the Ministry of Labor.
53. Since
the negotiations did not reach an agreement, a request to appoint a
strike judge was brought before the Office of the Director of
Reconciliation of the Ministry of Labor for consideration.
This was done in conformity with the procedure established in
Article 305 of the Labor Code. No
strike judge was ever appointed, and no board of reconciliation was ever
designated. These are the
authorities expressly empowered by the Labor Code itself to declare
whether or not a strike is legal. As
a result, even this phase of the administrative procedure failed to
comply with the provisions of the Labor Code.
54. Since
the Ministry of Labor did not rule in good time, which leads to the
assumption of an infringement of right which exists in all bodies of law
under which a private person is entitled to receive a prompt reply from
an administrative authority, since otherwise there would be a denial of
justice, the petitioners decided to avail themselves of the
constitutional precept that embodies the right to strike (Article 83 of
the Constitution of Nicaragua). After
this, the Ministry of Labor declared that the strike was illegal in a
resolution dated May 27, 1993, on the grounds that public sector workers
may not avail themselves of this right, as established in the provisions
of the Labor Code.
55. By
disagreeing with the contents of the resolution which declared the
strike illegal, the workers were exercising a remedy known as
"recourse to appeal" through the administrative procedure for
the purpose of having the executive reconsider its decision.
This appeal process is provided for in Article 68 of the
regulations of the Labor Code from which the following conclusion can be
drawn:
The right of appeal follows resolutions issued by the authorities
of the Ministry of Labor. This
recourse must be filed within 24 hours, plus the amount of time required
to make notification of the pertinent resolution.
After the remedy is filed, the authority that issued the
resolution shall immediately bring the activities to the attention of a
senior official so that the latter may, within no more than five working
days, not extendable, confirm, amend or void the resolution appealed....
56. On
June 4, 1993, the Director General of Labor decided to confirm each and
every one of the parts of the resolution issued by the Office of the
Inspector General of Labor, on May 27, 1993, and consequently declared
illegal the strike started by the unions of the General Directorate of
Customs.
57. After
all the administrative remedies were exhausted, the petitioners
proceeded to turn to the courts where they filed an appeal for
injunction.
B.
Exhaustion of Court remedies
58. The
petitioners filed their appeal on June 7, 1993, with the Appeals Court
for Civil and Labor Matters of Region III and in conformity with the
provisions of Article 31, the Rights Protection Law, Law No. 49,
published in the Official Gazette, No. 241, of December 20, 1988.
The law stipulates the following:
Article 31: When the
appeal remedy duly is filed with the court, it shall be made known to
the Office of the Attorney General of Justice, accompanied by a copy of
the appeal. Within a term
of three days, the court shall decree, de oficio or at the
request of party, suspension of the act against which a claim has been
made or denial thereof, as appropriate.
59. This
Appeals Court decided on June 24, 1993, to suspend the effects of the
resolution of the Ministry of Labor and ordered that the workers be
restored to their positions. Nevertheless,
this ruling was not respected by the authorities which continued to view
them as dismissed workers. This
led the employees to request the Supreme Court of Justice, on two
occasions, August 25, 1993 and September 7, 1993, to issue an executive
order for the purpose of carrying out implementation of the ruling
issued by the Appeals Court. On
September 9, 1993, by means of official order, the high court ruled in
favor of enforcing the ruling of the injunction verdict for appeal
issued by the Appeals Court.
60. It
needs to be asked at this point whether the appeal was the pertinent
remedy to view the remedies of domestic law as exhausted.
In this order of ideas, it is necessary to mention what the
Inter-American Court has understood as adequate remedy:
Article 46.1.a of the Convention refers "to generally
recognized principles of international law."
These principles do not refer only to the formal existence of
such remedies but also to their being adequate and effective, with the
exceptions provided for in Article 46.2.
Being adequate means that the function of these remedies, under
the internal law system, must be suitable to protect the legal situation
infringed upon. In all
domestic orders, there are multiple remedies but not all of them apply
in all circumstances. If,
in a specific case, the remedy is not adequate, obviously it cannot be
exhausted. This is
indicated by the principle that the rule is aimed at producing an effect
and may not be interpreted in the sense that it produces no effect or
its result is manifestly absurd or unreasonable....
A remedy must also be effective, that is, capable of producing
the result for which it has been conceived.[2]
61. The
ruling itself of the Supreme Court of Justice of Nicaragua states that
there were other remedies that could have been exercised in connection
with the resolution of the Ministry of Labor.
An example of one is the remedy of unconstitutionality.
However, the appeal remedy was the most adequate since its
invocation could have brought about the suspension of the effects of the
administrative act declaring the strike illegal.
62. As
a result, the domestic law provides a remedy which, as brief and
summary, makes it possible in an urgent manner to prevent the
consummation of a violation. In
the case in question, this would have made it impossible for the
employees to be dismissed as a result of the validation of that
resolution by the senior officers of the Ministry of Labor.
63. Exercise
of the appeal remedy in Nicaragua requires exhaustion of all ordinary
remedies as established in Article 27.6 of the Rights Protection Law.
Ordinary remedies means exhaustion of administrative procedures.
As a result, if the judge a quo had considered that the
appeals remedy was not admissible because the extremes of Article 27 of
the Rights Protection Law had not been complied with, he should have
declared it so, but the judge of the Appeals Court resolved to suspend
the act because such requirements had been verified.
64. Nevertheless,
and even though the appeal is a brief remedy, the basic issue was
decided out of the time period, after one year, even though the law
gives a term of 90 days for the Supreme Court to decide on the issue.
65. There
is no appeal of a decision handed down by the highest court.
This clearly shows that the petitioners exhausted both
administrative and judicial procedures by following the requirements set
out in domestic law.
66. Based
on the foregoing explanation, the Commission believes that the claimants
have proven that they availed themselves of all the remedies under
domestic law provided by the legislation of Nicaragua.
As a result, this means that the rule of prior exhaustion of
domestic remedies established in Article 46 of the Convention has been
complied with.
IV.4. FILING
OF THE PETITION WITHIN THE TERM ESTABLISHED IN THE CONVENTION
67. With
respect to the amount of time (ratione temporis), as required in
the Convention by Article 46.b, in coordination with Article 38 of the
regulations of the Commission, the petition must be submitted no later
than six months after the date on which the petitioner was notified of
the contents of the final decision (res judicata).
68. Ruling
No. 44 was issued on June 2, 1994, and the text itself of the verdict
ordered that its contents be notified by means of official court order
to the Office of the General Director of Labor.
69. On
June 7, 1994, the Commission received the contents of the petition,
which was expanded on September 13, 1994, at the request of the
Commission, for the purpose of making several points more precise.
As a result, the petition was presented in good time and in
accordance with the provisions established in the Convention and the
regulations of the Commission.
70. Taking
the foregoing explanation into account, the
INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, DECIDES:
71. To
declare admissible case 11.381 relating to Milton García Fajardo and
others.
72. To
make itself available to the parties for the purpose of arriving at a
friendly settlement of the matter based on the respect for human rights,
as recognized in the American Convention.
To that end, the parties shall manifest to the Commission their
intention to initiate the friendly settlement procedure within the
thirty (30) days following the notification of this report.
73. To
publish this report in the Annual Report to the General Assembly of the
OAS. [
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