46 Wilberforce Bernard, Steve Mungroo, Peter Benjamin, Krishendath Seepersad, Allan Phillip, Narine Sooklal, Amir Mowlah, Mervyn Parris and Francis Mansingh. X VIOLATION OF ARTICLES 7(5), 8 AND 25 IN RELATION TO ARTICLES 1(1) AND 2 OF THE AMERICAN CONVENTION (Right to Trial within a Reasonable Time, Right to Fair Trial and Judicial Protection) Contentions of the Commission 119) The Inter-American Commission contended that Trinidad and Tobago violated the right to be tried within a reasonable time, the right to a fair trial and the right to judicial protection to the detriment of several of the victims. The Court summarizes these contentions below. 120) The Commission contended that the State is responsible for the violation of Articles 7(5) and 8(1) of the Convention in relation to Article 2, by virtue of the unjustified delays in bringing twenty-four of the victims in the present Case to trial. 119 The following table sets forth the information presented by the Commission with respect to these victims. 120 1 2 NAME Date of arrest Date of conviction New Trial (N) Haniff Hilaire George Constantin e 02/14/91 05/29/95 12/25/91 02/17/95 Court of Appeal Decision (D) 121 Judgment (J) 122 03/10/97 (J) Date of Decision by the Privy Council 11/01/96 (D) 11/25/96 (J) 07/29/97 11/06/97 119 The twenty-four persons are: Haniff Hilaire, George Constantine, Denny Baptiste, Clarence Charles, Wilson Prince, Darrin Roger Thomas, Mervyn Edmund, Rodney Davis, Gangadeen Tahaloo, Noel Seepersad, Wayne Matthews, Alfred Frederick, Natasha De Leon, Vijay Mungroo, Phillip Chotalal, Nigel Mark, Wilberforce Bernard, Steve Mungroo, Krishendath Seepersad, Allan Phillip, Narine Sooklal, Amir Mowlah, Mervyn Parris and Francis Mansingh. 120 Cf. Filed as "Haniff Hilaire (11,816) v. Trinidad and Tobago, Exhibits to the Application of the Inter-American Commission," Exhibits 3-7, Vol. II, pp. 682-725; "George Constantine et al. v. Trinidad and Tobago, Exhibits to the Application of the Inter-American Commission," Exhibits 1-23, Vols. I-VIII, pp. 29-3776; and "Peter Benjamin et al. v. Trinidad and Tobago, Exhibits to the Application of the InterAmerican Commission," Exhibits 1-7, Vols. I-IV, pp. 139-1239. 121 "Decision" refers to a decision to admit or deny the request for appeal before the Trinidad and Tobago Court of Appeal. 122 "Judgment" refers to the legal analysis supporting a decision on the merits to admit or deny a request for appeal.

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