the disposal of the parties preparatory to initiating the procedure provided for at Article 48(1)(f) of the American Convention. 6. A hearing on admissibility was held on March 13, 2006, during the 124th regular session of the Inter-American Commission. On March 21, 2006, the State submitted additional information, which was forwarded to the petitioners on March 31, 2006, with a request for observations. The petitioners conveyed their observations in a communication received on May 23, 2006, on which date the petitioners also transmitted the technical opinions of Drs. Judith Salgado and Orlando Alcívar Santos. Both communications were forwarded to the State on July 7, 2006, with a request for observations. On September 29, 2006, the communication of July 7, 2006, was reiterated to the State. As of the drafting of the instant report the State has not presented the observations requested. III. POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES A. The petitioners 7. The petitioners hold that the justices of the Supreme Court were appointed in accordance with the sixteenth transitory provision of the reforms to the 1979 Constitution adopted by the National Congress in 1997. According to said provision: For this time only the National Congress shall appoint all 31 justices of the Supreme Court of Justice from a list composed of at least four and not more than 10 candidates proposed by the following nominating entities from civil society: 1. The former constitutional presidents of the Republic; 2. The Ecuadorian Episcopal Conference; 3. The former Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of Justice; 4. The National Bar Association of Ecuador; 5. The human rights associations; 6. The deans of the university law schools and the members of the National Council of Universities and Polytechnic Colleges (CONUEP); 7. The National Association of Newspaper Directors, the Ecuadorian Association of Television Networks, and the Ecuadorian Broadcasting Association; 8. The judges of the Superior Courts of Justice, District Tax Courts and Administrative Tribunals, and the National Federation of Judicial Employees and Officials; 9. The general unions, campesino organizations, and teachers and educators organized under the UNE and FENAPUPE; 10. The indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian peoples’ organizations of Ecuador; 11. The Consortium of Provincial Councils of Ecuador and the Association of Municipalities of Ecuador; and, 12. The Chambers of Production and Small Industry. Any other civil society organization or person may submit their nominations to the Constitutional Committee for Judicial Affairs. 2