Vance Center and International Partners Welcome Peruvian Supreme Court Decision to Grant NGO Legal Standing in Corruption Case

The Palacio de Justicia, which houses Peru’s Supreme Court, in Lima, Peru. Photo credit: Art DiNo from Lima, Perú, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

On August 25, the Supreme Tribunal of Pretrial Investigation of the Supreme Court of Justice of Peru upheld a request to recognize a civil society organization as an aggrieved party in a case involving state corruption, strengthening access to justice in Peru and setting an important regional precedent.

The Vance Center submitted an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the UNCAC Coalition, a global network of almost 400 civil society organizations committed to promoting the ratification, implementation and monitoring of the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC).

Background

The brief argued that the Court should recognize Proética, the Peruvian chapter of Transparency International, as an aggrieved party in criminal proceedings related to alleged corruption in a national program that provides meals to schoolchildren.

Peruvian prosecutors had initially denied Proética’s request to be included in two cases involving bribes and other alleged abuses by public officials tied to the Qali Warma National School Feeding Program. In its decision, the Peruvian Prosecutor’s Office argued that only the Peruvian State had standing in such cases.

However, the amicus brief argued that this decision contravened Peruvian law and international standards on corruption.

By denying Proética’s request, the brief argued, prosecutors ignored the ways in which corruption harms not only the state or individual victims, but also broad populations and groups of people, the environment, and society as a whole. It also argued that civil society organizations like Proética have standing to represent victims under Article 94 of Peru’s Criminal Procedure Code (CPP), which provides standing to associations whose mission aligns with the collective or diffuse interests harmed by a crime.

The Decision

In its decision in one case, the Tribunal acknowledged that corruption can harm a range of individuals and groups, rather than the narrow interpretation presented by Peru’s Prosecutor’s Office. It also agreed that civil society organizations can play an important role in advocating and intervening in legal proceedings on behalf of these victims of corrupt practices, and that such organizations have a right to participate in these proceedings.

The ruling recognizes that civil society associations do have standing to defend the collective and diffuse interests affected by these crimes, pursuant to Article 94 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court, and the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). While the judge did not cite the amicus directly, the decision reflected the arguments presented in the brief.

Read Proética’s analysis and see the decision here

The Tribunal’s decision paves the way for Proética, an important anti-corruption advocate, to participate in this case on behalf of the rights of the children and adolescents directly impacted by the officials’ actions. It also strengthens the ability of civil society organizations in Peru to actively and directly participate in legal proceedings to defend the rights of vulnerable groups and represent the broad interests of Peruvian citizens before the courts.

The decision sets a significant regional precedent and reinforces a key avenue for civil society to defend access to justice at a time when repressive legislation that seeks to weaken or undermine NGOs is on the rise around the world.

Proética is planning to present the brief in the second case related to corruption around the Qali Warma program, and hoping for another favorable decision.