58
this type of case does not refer merely to the act of prosecution, which is the
responsibility of a court, but essentially to the investigation itself, because this
procedure constitutes the beginning and the necessary grounds for the subsequent
intervention of an incompetent court. Based on the above, the Court finds that the
State violated the rights to judicial guarantees and to judicial protection established
in Articles 8(1) and 25(1) of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1)
thereof, to the detriment of Mrs. Fernández Ortega. As in previous cases,200 when it
has found that the military criminal jurisdiction is not competent, the Court
considers that it is not necessary to rule on the other arguments concerning the
independence and impartiality of the military justice system or the possible
violation, based on the same facts, under other Inter-American instruments.
*
*
*
178. Moreover, the Court observes that the intervention of the military justice
system was based on Article 57(II)(a) of the Code of Military Justice (supra para.
162).201 In this regard, the Court reiterates that this provision:
is a wide-ranging and imprecise provision that prevents determination of the exact
connection between a crime that falls under the ordinary jurisdiction and military service
objectively assessed. The possibility that the military courts may try a soldier accused of
an ordinary crime, merely because he is on active service, implies that jurisdiction is
awarded merely because he is a soldier. Thus, even if the crime is committed by soldiers
while they are still on active service, or based on service-related acts, this is not enough
for such crimes to be heard by the military criminal justice system.202
179. In the case of Radilla Pacheco, this Court found that the provision contained
in said Article 57 functions as a rule and not as an exception, an indispensable
characteristic of the military jurisdiction in order for it to conform to the standards
established by this Court.203 The Court recalls that Article 2 of the American
Convention establishes the general obligation of each State Party to adapt its
domestic law to the Convention’s provisions in order to guarantee the rights that it
establishes, which implies that the measures under domestic law must be effective
(the effet utile principle).204 Consequently, the Court finds that the State failed to
comply with the obligation contained in Article 2 of the American Convention, in
connection with Articles 8 and 25 thereof, by extending the competence of the
military justice system to crimes that have no precise connection to the military
discipline or to juridical rights inherent in the military forum.
200
Cf. Case of Cantoral Benavides, supra note 111, para. 115, and Case of Usón Ramírez v.
Venezuela. Preliminary Objection, Merits, Reparations, and Costs. Judgment of November 20, 2009.
Series C No. 207, para. 124.
201
Article 57(II)(a) of the Code of Military Justice, in what is relevant, states:
The following are crimes against military order:
II.- Those of the common or federal jurisdiction, when the commission has involved any of the
circumstances hereby stated:
a) when committed by military personnel while on duty or as a result of acts of the same[.]
202
Cf. Case of Radilla Pacheco, supra note 33, para. 286.
203
Cf. Case of Durand and Ugarte v. Perú. Merits. Judgment of August 16, 2000. Series C No. 68,
para. 117; Case of the Rochela Massacre v. Colombia. Merits, Reparations, and Costs. Judgment of May
11, 2007. Series C No. 163, para. 200, and Case of Radilla Pacheco, supra note 33, para. 287.
204
Cf. Case of Garrido y Baigorria v. Argentina. Reparations and Costs. Judgment of August 27,
1998. Series C No. 39, para. 68; Case of the Dos Erres Massacre, supra note 20, para. 122, and Case of
Chitay Nech et al., supra note 18, para. 213.