I INTRODUCTION OF THE CASE AND PURPOSE OF THE DISPUTE 1. The case submitted to the Court. On August 19, 2011, under the provisions of Articles 51 and 61 of the American Convention, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Inter-American Commission” or “the Commission”) submitted to the jurisdiction of the Court the case of Jorge Omar Gutiérrez and family against the Argentine Republic (hereinafter “the State” or “Argentina”). According to the Commission, the case concerns “the murder, on August 29, 1994, of Assistant Commissioner Gutiérrez who was investigating a case of corruption, subsequently known as [the] ‘case of the parallel customs house …,’ in which important businessmen and high-ranking government officials were involved.” An investigation had been opened in the ordinary criminal jurisdiction into the events on which that case was based, in which presumably “there were fundamental irregularities.” However, “[e]ven though the investigation was fraught with irregularities and concealment measures, and despite the creation of a special committee by the Chamber of Deputies [of the National Congress], the State failed to adopt the necessary measures to clarify the facts and the corresponding responsibilities.” Thus, “17 years after the execution of Assistant Commissioner Jorge Omar Gutiérrez, there is still no certainty about the circumstances of his death, and no one has been sanctioned for the incident.” Lastly, the Commission affirmed that the human rights violations committed against Jorge Omar Gutiérrez and his family persisted as a result of the alleged absence of an effective investigation by the judicial authorities “into the participation of State agents in the murder of Mr. Gutiérrez.” 2. Proceedings before the Commission. The proceedings before the Commission were as follows: a. Petition. On May 12, 1999, the Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS) lodged the initial petition, which was expanded by CELS, the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), and Nilda del Valle Maldonado de Gutiérrez and Francisco Gutiérrez on October 6 that year. b. Admissibility Report. On February 20, 2003, the Inter-American Commission approved Admissibility Report No. 1/03. 1 c. Merits Report. On March 31, 2011, the Commission issued Merits Report No. 63/11, pursuant to Article 50 of the Convention (hereinafter “the Merits Report” or “Report No. 63/11”), in which it reached a series of conclusions and made several recommendations to the State: c.1. Conclusions. The Commission concluded that the State was responsible for the violation of: • The right to life recognized in Article 4 of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) thereof, to the detriment of Jorge Omar Gutiérrez, and • The rights to personal integrity, judicial guarantees and judicial protection recognized in Articles 5, 8 and 25 of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) thereof, to the detriment of his family members Nilda del Valle Maldonado (his widow), Jorge Gabriel Gutiérrez, David Gutiérrez and Marilin Verónica Gutiérrez (his three children), and Francisco Gutiérrez (his brother). 1 Admissibility Report No. 1/03 (file before the Commission, folios 1353 to 1380). In this report, the Commission concluded that it was competent to examine the claims submitted by the petitioners concerning the presumed violation of Articles 4, 5, 8 and 25 of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) thereof. 4