10. On May 27, 1998, the President of the Inter-American Court granted Provisional Measures in the cases of James, Briggs, Noel, Garcia and Bethel, and decided to require the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago "to take all measures necessary to preserve the lives of Wenceslaus James, Anthony Briggs, Anderson Noel, Anthony Garcia and Christopher Bethel, so that the Court may examine the pertinence of the provisional measures requested by the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights." On June 14, 1998, the Court, in plenary, ratified the President's action and ordered "Trinidad and Tobago to take all measures necessary to preserve the life and physical integrity of Wenceslaus James, Anthony Briggs, Anderson Noel, Anthony Garcia and Christopher Bethel, so as not to hinder the processing of their cases before the Inter-American system." 11. On March 25, 1998 the State presented its response to the Supplementary Petition filed by the petitioners on February 25, 1998. In this response the State noted that "in order for any recommendation by the Commission to be considered by the Minister of National Security when advising His Excellency the President on the exercise of the prerogative of mercy, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago respectfully requests the Commission to submit its determination in respect of this supplementary communication by 11 June 1998." 12. On July 10, 1998, the petitioners informed the Commission that on July 9, 1998 a Warrant of Execution was read to Mr. Haniff Hilaire and the execution was scheduled for Tuesday, July 14, 1998. In the opinion of the petitioners, since the Instructions were approved on October 9, 1997, two days after Mr. Hilaire's petition was filed with the Commission, on October 7, 1997, then the Instructions, if valid, did not apply to the Applicant. Further, the petitioners requested the Commission to ask the Court to order provisional measures, pursuant to Article 63(2) of the Convention, to preserve the life of Mr. Hilaire. 13. On July 10, 1998, the Commission requested the Court to amplify the provisional measures ordered on May 27, 1998 and ratified on June 14, 1998 in favor of Wenceslaus James, et al. to include Mr. Haniff Hilaire. By Order of the President of the Court dated July 13, 1998, Mr. Hilaire was included in the earlier Order and the Court decided "[T]o require the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to take all measures necessary to preserve the life of Haniff Hilaire, so that the Court may examine the pertinence of the request of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to amplify the provisional measures adopted in the James, Briggs, Noel, Garcia and Bethel cases." On August 29, 1998, the full Court ratified the President's Order dated July 13, 1998. III. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS A. The Commission's Competence 14. Trinidad and Tobago is a State party to the American Convention, having ratified the treaty on May 28, 1991. The petition alleges violations of human rights set forth in the Convention which the Commission is competent to review. B. Procedural Admissibility of the Petition 1. Exhaustion of Domestic Remedies 15. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago stated in its response dated December 15, 1997 that: In the interests of expediency (...) notwithstanding the failure of the Applicant to first seek redress for his grievances by way of a Constitutional Motion before the domestic courts of Trinidad and Tobago, except as herein expressly provided, the State party raises no challenge to the admissibility of this communication based on the exhaustion of domestic remedies rule (...). 16. The petitioners, in the observations to the response of the State Party, dated February 25, 1998, noted that "the State Party has raised no challenge to the admissibility of this communication based on the `exhaustion of domestic remedies rule.' However, the State Party 3