Guatemala cases, to the instant case. The public hearing was held on March 8, 2019, during the 130th Regular Period of Session of the Court, held at its headquarters.5 11. Final written arguments and observations. - On April 8, 2019, the representatives and the State submitted their respective final written arguments, together with certain annexes, and the Commission submitted its final written observations. 12. Deliberation of the present case. - The Court began deliberating the present Judgment on October 11, 2019. III JURISDICTION 13. The Court is competent to hear the instant case, pursuant to Article 62(3) of the Convention, since Guatemala has been a State Party to the American Convention since May 25, 1978, and accepted the contentious jurisdiction of the Court on March 9, 1987. IV PRELIMINARY OBJECTION A. Arguments of the parties and the Commission 14. The State argued that the circumstances in the instant case were in keeping with the domestic legal provisions in force at the time of the facts. It added that the criminal proceedings against Mr. Rodríguez Revolorio, Mr. López Calo, and Mr. Archila Pérez constituted res judicata, inasmuch as the representatives of the alleged victims exhausted all the remedies under domestic law in force at the time of the facts and that those remedies were heard and resolved at the appropriate procedural moment by the corresponding judicial bodies. It also indicated that at no time did it carry out the death sentence imposed on Mr. Rodríguez Revolorio, Mr. López Calo, and Mr. Archila Pérez, since it was commuted to the maximum sentence of deprivation of liberty. Finally, the State emphasized that, despite the fact that the crime for which they were convicted was not eligible for alternative measures, in good faith, the convicted persons have enjoyed the benefit of early release since 2016. 15. The Commission considered that the State's approach did not constitute a preliminary objection, but was essentially a matter of substance. 16. The representatives expressed themselves in the same sense as the Commission, indicating that the State's allegations were matters related to the merits of the case. B. Considerations of the Court 17. The Court recalls that preliminary objections are acts by which a State seeks, in advance, to prevent the analysis of the merits of a contested matter, for which purpose it may raise an objection 5 The following persons appeared at this hearing: a) for the Inter-American Commission: Commissioner Luis Ernesto Vargas Silva and attorney Christian González Chacón; b) for the representatives of the alleged victims: Inter-American Public Defenders Rivana Barreto Ricarte de Oliveira and Yanela Romero de Pimental, and c) for the State of Guatemala: President of COPREDEH Jorge Luis Borrayo Reyes, Executive Director of COPREDEH Felipe Sánchez González, Director of Defenders Carla Gabriela Morales, Advisors of the Directorate of International Cases Monitoring Steffany Rebeca Vásquez and Rafael Eduardo Bran, and Public Prosecutor Milton Tereso García Secayda. 6