Cuba gives OK to unusual lawsuit
While not hopeful his case will be successful, a dissident Cuban lawyer won a surprise hearing at Havana's Supreme People's Tribunal.
BY JUAN O. TAMAYO jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com
In a legal case unprecedented for Cuba's communist government, a Havana appeals court has heard oral arguments on a lawsuit filed by a dissident lawyer against the country's minister of justice.
``Contrary to what I expected, the court agreed to consider our appeal and held a hearing on it on the 21st of January,'' said lawyer Wilfredo Vallín, who filed the bold lawsuit two years ago.
NOT OPTIMISTIC
Havana's Supreme People's Tribunal is required to rule on the appeal by Wednesday, though Vallín noted that even if it rules in his favor, he's not optimistic about the long-term outlook of the legal battle.
Cuba's legal system, tightly controlled by the ruling Communist Party, has never before been known to side with a citizen challenging the government, according to the 63-year-old Havana lawyer.
Vallín's lawsuit is not exactly earth-shaking: He wants the Justice Ministry to answer his request to legally register the Cuban Juridical Association (CJA) -- a group of about 30 dissident and independent lawyers who provide free legal advice, most often to government critics.
Cuban lawyers can work only for the government or government-approved ``Law Collectives'' that generally frown on defending government critics or taking on any cases that could displease Cuban officials.
Vallín took the first step to register the CJA in 2009, asking the Justice Ministry to certify that no other group was using the same name.
If the answer was no, he could then apply for a legal registration.
The Justice Ministry's Registry of Associations never legally recognizes dissident organizations, and most often simply does not answer the requests.
Registry officials also did not answer Vallín's request, but unlike others who quickly gave up, he filed a second request with the Registry and -- after another silence -- appealed to Justice Minister María Esther Reus González.
Reus didn't answer either, and he then filed a demand with the Havana Provincial Tribunal as a private citizen, arguing that Cuba's Law for Civil, Administrative and Labor Procedures requires Reus to reply to his appeal.
To his amazement, a three-judge panel not only accepted his documents laying out his arguments but on July 28, 2010 ordered Reus to appoint lawyers to defend her.
The panel dismissed his case based on ``procedural errors,'' but Vallín then appealed to the Supreme People's Tribunal on Nov. 22, and was again surprised when the court accepted his pleadings and set a hearing for Jan. 21.
CLOSED DOORS
The hearing lasted 20 minutes and was held behind closed doors. Every other case scheduled for that day in that court building was postponed, he added, apparently to keep the case under wraps.
Cuba's official news media has not reported on the case, and its details have been made public so far mostly in Cuban blogs, including the blog Laritza's Laws, written by CJA member Laritza Diversent.
``As far as I have been able to investigate, there's never been a case like this, in which a lawsuit by a citizen against the government gets even this much of a hearing,'' Vallín told El Nuevo Herald by telephone from Havana.
Vallín said that even if his case is eventually dismissed -- as he expects -- it shows that Cuban citizens can at least try to hold the government accountable to its own laws and administrative procedures.
CJA members have had few problems helping individuals with legal issues, Vallín said.
But state security agents have intervened to block several association efforts to hold seminars for dissident and independent groups on their legal and human rights.
``Contrary to what I expected, the court agreed to consider our appeal and held a hearing on it on the 21st of January,'' said lawyer Wilfredo Vallín, who filed the bold lawsuit two years ago.
NOT OPTIMISTIC
Havana's Supreme People's Tribunal is required to rule on the appeal by Wednesday, though Vallín noted that even if it rules in his favor, he's not optimistic about the long-term outlook of the legal battle.
Cuba's legal system, tightly controlled by the ruling Communist Party, has never before been known to side with a citizen challenging the government, according to the 63-year-old Havana lawyer.
Vallín's lawsuit is not exactly earth-shaking: He wants the Justice Ministry to answer his request to legally register the Cuban Juridical Association (CJA) -- a group of about 30 dissident and independent lawyers who provide free legal advice, most often to government critics.
Cuban lawyers can work only for the government or government-approved ``Law Collectives'' that generally frown on defending government critics or taking on any cases that could displease Cuban officials.
Vallín took the first step to register the CJA in 2009, asking the Justice Ministry to certify that no other group was using the same name.
If the answer was no, he could then apply for a legal registration.
The Justice Ministry's Registry of Associations never legally recognizes dissident organizations, and most often simply does not answer the requests.
Registry officials also did not answer Vallín's request, but unlike others who quickly gave up, he filed a second request with the Registry and -- after another silence -- appealed to Justice Minister María Esther Reus González.
Reus didn't answer either, and he then filed a demand with the Havana Provincial Tribunal as a private citizen, arguing that Cuba's Law for Civil, Administrative and Labor Procedures requires Reus to reply to his appeal.
To his amazement, a three-judge panel not only accepted his documents laying out his arguments but on July 28, 2010 ordered Reus to appoint lawyers to defend her.
The panel dismissed his case based on ``procedural errors,'' but Vallín then appealed to the Supreme People's Tribunal on Nov. 22, and was again surprised when the court accepted his pleadings and set a hearing for Jan. 21.
CLOSED DOORS
The hearing lasted 20 minutes and was held behind closed doors. Every other case scheduled for that day in that court building was postponed, he added, apparently to keep the case under wraps.
Cuba's official news media has not reported on the case, and its details have been made public so far mostly in Cuban blogs, including the blog Laritza's Laws, written by CJA member Laritza Diversent.
``As far as I have been able to investigate, there's never been a case like this, in which a lawsuit by a citizen against the government gets even this much of a hearing,'' Vallín told El Nuevo Herald by telephone from Havana.
Vallín said that even if his case is eventually dismissed -- as he expects -- it shows that Cuban citizens can at least try to hold the government accountable to its own laws and administrative procedures.
CJA members have had few problems helping individuals with legal issues, Vallín said.
But state security agents have intervened to block several association efforts to hold seminars for dissident and independent groups on their legal and human rights.
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