43. Article 46(1)(a) of the American Convention provides that, for a complaint lodged with the Inter-American Commission pursuant to Article 44 of said treaty to be admissible, all remedies under domestic law must have been pursued and exhausted in accordance with the generally recognized principles of international law. The purpose of this requirement is to allow national authorities to be seized of the alleged violation of a protected right and to have the opportunity to resolve it if appropriate before it is considered at the international level. 44. The petitioner states that he has exhausted the remedies under domestic law. The State has not made any specific representations as to whether this treaty requirement has been met. With respect to said treaty requirement, the IACHR will proceed to analyze the information provided by the parties in order to determine whether this requirement has been met. 45. The information provided by the parties indicates that Steven Hendrix filed an amparo action after obtaining an unfavorable ruling from the Assembly of Presidents of the Professional Associations of Guatemala. 46. The documentation accompanying the petition to the IACHR shows that, on May 9, 2002, the petitioner filed an amparo action for the protection of constitutional rights with the Third Division of the Court of Appeals, contesting the CANG's decision to not authorize him to exercise the profession of notary in Guatemala on the ground that he was not a Guatemalan citizen. This action also challenged the decision by the Assembly of Presidents of the Professional Associations of Guatemala to let stand the CANG's decision by denying his appeal of it. The appeals court ruled against Mr. Hendrix, and he applied to the Court of Constitutionality. 47. The Court of Constitutionality ruled on the appeal in its judgment of April 21, 2005, of which the relevant portion is as follows: (...) it considers that the fact that a professional degree has been validly conferred on a person who, because of his nationality, in accordance with the provisions of statutory law, would not be able to exercise the profession to which this degree admits him gives rise to a constitutional conflict between one constitutional norm (Article 81 of the Political Constitution of the Republic), which provides that "the acquired rights of professional practice of holders of said degrees (which include university degrees) must be respected, and no provisions of any kind may be promulgated that limit or restrict them" and another, contained in Article 2(1) of the Code of Notarial Practice, which states that, to obtain authorization to exercise the profession of notary, it is necessary to "be a native Guatemalan, of age, of secular status, and domiciled in the Republic." (…) In the opinion of the Court, the aforementioned conflict may be resolved by applying Article 146 of the Political Constitution of the Republic, which provides that "naturalized Guatemalans shall have the same rights as native Guatemalans, except for the limitations established in this Constitution," none of which concern the exercise of the profession of notary. 48. In view of the above, the Court decided (1) to vacate the judgment for which the amparo action was brought; (2) to grant Steven Edward Hendrix amparo, and, therefore, (a) to restore his affected legal rights; (b) to annul the decision of the Assembly of Presidents of Professional Associations of Guatemala; and (c) for the purposes of granting amparo, to order the Assembly of Presidents of Professional Associations of Guatemala to pronounce a decision on its behalf directing the CANG to issue a ruling authorizing the applicant to exercise the profession of