31. The petitioners claim that both mothers are Dominican citizens, as proven by their respective identity and voter registration cards. But they affirm that they cannot meet the requirement of supplying identification for the girls’ fathers, both of whom are Haitian and have no contact with them. The petitioners add that the requirement of presenting witnesses over 50 years of age with an identity card and who also know how to read and write is impossible to meet. Both girls were born in the “bateyes” where people do not possess identity cards and most are illiterate. In addition, the petitioners claim that the State considers Haitian and Haitian-Dominican workers to fall under the “in transit” category of people established by the Constitution, a category which denies Dominican nationality to their children.5 32. The petitioners hold that the girls’ mothers took the initiative to present their request directly to the Procurator since his function is to oversee and report on errors made by Civil Registry officials. 6 33. The petitioners claim that in domestic law there is no provision allowing a private party to appeal a decision of the Procurator to a Court of First Instance. According to Law 659 on Acts of the Civil Administration, it is the Procurator who is charged with presenting belated declarations to the Court of First Instance and in the case under consideration, that was never done. 34. In regard to possibly appealing to the JCE, the petitioners maintain that in domestic law there is no procedure for applicants to file individual cases before the JCE in regard to denial of a belated declaration of birth. Moreover, petitioners hold that an appeal to the JCE is not an effective recourse since the JCE has made its opinion known 7 by declaring that the documents submitted by the mothers were not sufficient and for that reason they had not granted the birth certificates. Lastly, the petitioners hold that they are not required to appeal to the JCE since it is not a body of judicial recourse. 35. The petitioners maintain that the JCE and the Dominican courts do not offer effective remedy. They hold that any appeal to the JCE is a purely illusory remedy since that body will not consider registration requests that do not include the mandatory documentation, which the petitioners claim is impossible to provide. The petitioners maintain that domestic legislation does not confer the JCE with jurisdiction to hear individual cases previously handled by the Offices of Civil Administration. They add that the impossibility of appealing a decision of the JCE, which denied the girls their request for birth certificates, effectively means that all domestic remedies have been exhausted.8 36. The State holds that the documents required for the issuance of a belated declaration of birth apply equally to all persons and that there is no discrimination on the basis of the parents’ heritage. In this regard, the State maintains that the affected parties were informed at all times of the requirements for obtaining the kind of declaration they wanted. The State notes that when applying for a belated declaration of birth in the Office of Civil Administration in Sabana Grande de Boyá, the mother of Violeta submitted only a certification of birth issued by the mayor of Batey Las Charcas and her own identity and voter registration cards, while Dilcia’s mother submitted only a certification of birth issued by the Sabana Grande de Boyá health clinic and her own identity card. The State considers such documentation to be insufficient to issue a declaration. 5 Article 11 of the Dominican Constitution stipulates that “All persons born in the territory of the Republic are Dominicans, except the legitimate children of foreigners residing in the country as diplomatic representatives or of foreigners in transit.” 6 Article 9 of Law 659 on Acts of the Civil Administration states that officials of the Civil Administration must follow the instructions of the JCE and the Civil Administration Office, and that they are under the immediate and direct oversight of the Procurators 7 In response to a request for information submitted by the Office of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the JCE stated on 27 September 2000 that it was not in charge of the case during the complaint procedure and that the documents submitted to the Civil Administration Office were not sufficient to proceed with the issuance of belated declarations. They added that the applicants could redirect their efforts by complying with the JCE provision establishing the requirements for belated declarations of birth. 8 Article 6 of the Elections Law specifies that decisions of the JCE cannot be appealed. In addition, the Supreme Court of Justice has said that JCE decisions cannot be annulled, modified or substituted through actions undertaken by any other State institution. Only the JCE itself can do so. 5