Constitutional Court orders SERVIR to erase permanent disqualification of former Congressional advisor

The Constitutional Court declared the amparo lawsuit filed by César Francisco Bardales Saldaña partially founded and ordered the National Civil Service Authority (SERVIR) to nullify the permanent disqualification entry registered in his name in the National Registry of Sanctions against Civil Servants (RNSSC). The decision appears in Judgment 1370/2026, issued in Case No. 00417-2024-PA/TC, published in the Constitutional Processes section of the Official Gazette El Peruano on Saturday, October 10, 2026 (Year XXII, No. 4445, p. 77).

The Second Chamber of the Constitutional Court, composed of magistrates Ochoa Cardich, Domínguez Haro, and Gutiérrez Ticse, issued the judgment on August 26, 2026, with the ponencia by Domínguez Haro. The panel concluded that SERVIR’s refusal violated the right to the execution of judgments and resolutions in their own terms, the right of access to public service, and the principle of resocialization.

A served sentence and an unrecognized rehabilitation

The case dates back to the sentence imposed on Bardales Saldaña by the Unipersonal Criminal Court of Concepción, of the Superior Court of Justice of Junín, through Resolution 062-2017, a judgment dated June 12, 2017:

• Crime: intentional embezzlement, first paragraph of article 387 of the Penal Code.
• Main penalty: three years and six months of deprivation of liberty, suspended for a probationary period of three years.
• Accessory penalty: disqualification for three years, pursuant to subsections 1 and 2 of article 36 of the Penal Code.

The sentence was confirmed by the Appeals and Liquidation Chamber of Huancayo on December 13, 2017. Subsequently, through Resolution No. 8, dated April 29, 2021, the Eighth Specialized Preparatory Investigation Court for Crimes of Official Corruption of Huancayo lifted the disqualification penalty and ordered the cancellation of the records as the sentence had been served.

Despite this, SERVIR maintained the entry of “permanent impediment to provide services to the State” derived from numeral 2.2 of article 2 of Legislative Decree 1295. The entity confirmed its refusal through Executive Presidency Resolution 000084-2023-SERVIR-PE, dated April 26, 2023.

The criterion on Legislative Decree 1295

The court specified that numeral 2.2 of article 2 of Legislative Decree 1295 must be interpreted in the sense that those convicted of the crimes provided therein are impeded from providing services to the State only during the term imposed by the sentencing judgment, which must be in accordance with the terms of the Penal Code. Once the sentence is served or the resolution lifting the disqualification or granting rehabilitation is issued, the record must be deleted.

The ruling recalled that Article 69 of the Penal Code allows for the review and reversal of permanent disqualification after twenty years, and that the Constitutional Court had already declared the phrase “even if they had been rehabilitated” from subsection h of Article 8 of Law 26864, referring to political participation, to be unconstitutional.

What the ruling orders

The judgment provides:

• To declare the petition for amparo partially founded due to the violation of the right to the execution of sentences, access to public office, and the principle of resocialization.
• To order SERVIR to nullify the permanent disqualification recorded in the name of César Francisco Bardales Saldaña in the RNSSC.
• To grant a period of five business days for compliance with the resolution, under the warnings of Article 27 of the New Constitutional Procedural Code.

Reinstatement declared inadmissible

The plaintiff also requested reinstatement to the position of chief advisor level SP-9 of the Congress of the Republic, from which he was dismissed on January 25, 2023. The court declared that specific request inadmissible: the position was a trust position in the office of former congressman Alexánder Hidalgo Zamalloa, who ceased his functions on July 26, 2022, making the reinstatement irreparable.

The original lawsuit was filed on April 11, 2023, against the Congress of the Republic and SERVIR; the Civil Court of Wanchaq admitted it for processing on May 3, 2023, and the Civil Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Cusco confirmed its inadmissibility through Resolution 15, dated November 25, 2023, before the Constitutional Court accepted the constitutional grievance appeal.

Impact

The ruling establishes a general criterion: disqualification entries in the RNSSC cannot be extended indefinitely when the criminal sentence has already been served and the Judiciary has ordered rehabilitation. The ruling forces SERVIR to align its interpretation of Legislative Decree 1295 with the Penal Code and the principle of resocialization, with a direct effect on the access of rehabilitated individuals to public office.

Source: Official Gazette El Peruano, Year XXII, No. 4445, Saturday, October 10, 2026, Constitutional Processes section, page 77 (official reference: Sentence 1370/2026, Exp. No. 00417-2024-PA/TC).