6. In addition, the IACHR received information submitted by the petitioner on the following dates: August 23, 2005, February 21, 2006, May 23, 2006, June 20, 2006, October 11, 2006, February 16, 2007, April 25, 2007, September 20, 2007, January 30, 2008, and May 19, 2009. These communications were duly forwarded to the State as appropriate for its information and comment. 7. The IACHR also received comments from the State on the following dates: January 5, 2007, April 2, 2007, November 9, 2007, May 21, 2008, and July 2, 2009. These communications were duly forwarded to the petitioner. III. A. POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES Petitioner 8. Steven Edward Hendrix states that he received the degree of Doctor of Laws of the University of Wisconsin, United States, in 1987, as well as the degrees of Doctor of Laws and Lawyer of the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, Bolivia. He further states that on March 30, 1998, he was awarded the academic degree of Doctor of Judicial and Social Sciences of the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC). He states that he subsequently passed the two parts of the professional examination, on April 25 and August 3, 2000, respectively, and had previously taken the steps required to establish his good conduct and record, with favorable results. Consequently, the petitioner indicates that as is said in the official minute No. 36-2000, the governing board of the USAC School of Law, conferred on him the degrees of Lawyer and Notary at its September 18, 2000 meeting, making him a Doctor of Laws, Lawyer, and Notary of the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala as from that date. 9. The alleged victim claims that he has not been authorized to exercise the profession of public notary despite having fulfilled all of the legal requirements, except the condition that he give up his United States citizenship and become a Guatemalan citizen. He states that the Association of Lawyers and Notaries of Guatemala (Colegio de Abogados y Notarios de Guatemala, hereinafter "the CANG") rejected his application for admission as a notary and that its decision was subsequently confirmed by the governing board of said professional association and later by the Assembly of Presidents of the Professional Associations of Guatemala (Asamblea de Presidentes de los Colegios Profesionales de Guatemala). 10. He argues that the Commission has jurisdiction over an act of the CANG because, in consultative opinion OC-5, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (hereinafter "the Inter-American Court") established a precedent of a violation of human rights arising from a ruling by a professional association. He maintains that the State delegates government powers to the professional associations to control, organize, and supervise the exercise of certain professions and that this is an instance of international responsibility for the acts of individuals, because the State has allowed a professional association to restrict rights by delegation. 11. With respect to national legislation, he states that the Constitution of Guatemala does not establish Guatemalan citizenship as a prerequisite for the exercise of the profession of notary; this requirement is established in Article 2 of the Code of the Notarial Profession of Guatemala.1 The CANG's ruling, he says, reflects the application of Article 13 of the Judiciary Act, which establishes that specific provisions of law take precedence over general provisions, leading to the conclusion 1 The petitioner adds that Article 175 of the Political Constitution "provides that no law may contradict the provisions of the Constitution" and that any law that violates or distorts the constitutional requirements is null and void ipso jure.