8 A) DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE 44. Among the documentary evidence presented by the representatives there is an expert report given before a public notary (affidavit), pursuant to that stated by the President in his Order of March 18, 2005 (supra para. 25), which the Court considers appropriate to summarize. a) Expert report of Mr. Reinaldo Calvachi Cruz, lawyer The expert witness is a university professor of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedural Law. On August 10, 1979 the Political Constitution of Ecuador came into force, and in its Article 44 it introduced for the first time the acknowledgment of the incorporation of all the norms included in international instruments regarding human rights. This aspect was included in the current norm of Article 17 of the Political Constitution of Ecuador. “This constitutional text continued in force until August [9] of [1998], since on August [10] of the same year the text approved by the Constituent Assembly came into force.” The Constitution of 1979 included some precise provisions on the guarantee of a due process, additional to those considered incorporated by Article 44 of the aforementioned constitutional norm. Paragraph 16 of Article 19 of the Constitution recognized, inter alia, the following rights with regard to the due process: right to a competent judge; right to a trial prior to a conviction; right to a defense; prohibition to be obliged to declare in criminal procedures in matters that could imply criminal responsibility for oneself; right to the presumption of innocence, and guarantees to the right to personal liberty. Also, in the section regarding the judicial function, the Constitution of 1979 recognized the principles of gratuity, oral proceedings, and promptness of the judicial procedures. It also recognized that an unjustified delay in the processing of a case must result in sanctions for those responsible. Likewise, it recognized the principle of judicial independence. With regard to the right to a defense, Article 107 stated the establishment of public counsel for the representation of any person who did not have the economic means to pay for their defense. However, in the practice, said right was seriously limited due to the lack of designation and hiring of public counsel. On November 15, 1989 “the Codification of the Law on the Control of the Trafficking or Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances, published in the Official Newspaper number [six hundred twelve] of January [twenty seven] of [nineteen eighty seven] was in force.” Title III of the mentioned law established sanctions for the sowing, harvesting, or exploitation of plants that can be used for the elaboration or production of narcotics or psychotropic substances. The production, extraction, recrystallization or synthesization of said substances was also punished, as well as the trafficking, possession or delivery of the substances subject to control. The Law established punishments for each of the conducts recognized as punishable. “Eventhough the law did not establish special norms for the judgment of said offenses, since it made reference to the Code of Criminal Procedures, it did maintain some modifications to the ordinary process for the judgment of offenses.”