The military laws that didn't exist

Christian Bazan and Laura Vera, the lawyers for Paraguayan Captain Jose Lezcano, Captain Favio Escobar and Lieutenant Gustavo Velazquez, presented a habeas corpus for the "possible nullity" of Laws 840/80 (Military Tribunals), 843/80 (Military Criminal Code) and 844/80 (Military Criminal Procedure Code).  The petitioners are imprisoned in Viñas Cue in Paraguay and are being tried for corruption under these three laws in a military tribunal.

Christian Bazan, one of the officers' lawyers, requested the Official Gazette, which is part of the Executive Branch, to indicate in as short time as possible when these laws had been published.  In Paraguay, a law does not exist unless it has been promulgated and published.  Edgar Villalba, the deputy Defender of the People (Ombudsman) consulted the Official Gazette about the publication of the laws and the latter confirmed that they had never been published.  Villalba stated that the failure to publish meant that these norms are invalid and that all those who had been affected by them could have their cases reviewed by the court.  He emphasized that the failure to publish "is not an administrative detail; if they are not published they do not exist in the national legal order."