and nor did it request a further extension in keeping with the Commission’s Rules of Procedure in this regard. e. Submission to the Court. On September 13, 2019, the Commission6 submitted to the jurisdiction of the Court all the facts and alleged human rights violations described in Merits Report No. 113/18, “owing to the need to obtain justice in this specific case.” f. Request of the Inter-American Commission. The Commission asked the Court to conclude and declare the international responsibility of Ecuador for the alleged violation of the rights indicated in the conclusions to the Merits Report. It also asked the Court to order the State to adopt certain measures of reparation (infra Chapter VIII). The Court notes with concern that more than 16 years elapsed between the lodging of the initial petition and the submission of the case to the Court. II. PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COURT 3. Notification to the State and the representative.7 The submission of the case was notified to the State on November 6, 2019, and to the representative of the presumed victims on November 8, 2019. 4. Brief with pleadings, motions and evidence. On January 8, 2020, the representative presented his brief with pleadings, motions and evidence (hereinafter “pleadings and motions brief”), pursuant to Articles 25 and 40 of the Court’s Rules of Procedure. In general, in this brief the representative made the same allegations as the Inter-American Commission. 5. Answering brief with preliminary objections. 8 On May 29, 2020, the State submitted to the Court its brief answering the submission of the case and the pleadings and motions brief (hereinafter “answering brief”) pursuant to Article 41 of the Court’s Rules of Procedure. In this brief the State filed two preliminary objections. 6. Observations on the preliminary objections. On June 28 and July 2, 2020, the representative and the Commission, respectively, presented observations on the preliminary objections, and asked the Court to reject them. 7. Final written procedure. After assessing the Merits Report, the pleadings and motions brief and the State’s answering brief, and in light of the provisions of Articles 15, 45 and 50(1) of the Court’s Rules of Procedure, the President of the Court decided that, considering the circumstances of the case and the absence of a factual dispute, it was not necessary to hold a public hearing. This decision was communicated in an order of the President of December 8, 2020.9 In the order, the President also required the presentation by affidavit of six deponents, ex officio, and one expert witness offered by the Commission. The Commission appointed its President, Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño, and then Executive Secretary Paulo Abrão as its Delegates, and Marisol Blanchard Vera, Deputy Executive Secretary, and Jorge Meza Flores and Erick Acuña Pereda, Executive Secretariat lawyers, as legal advisers. 6 7 The presumed victims appointed Marcelo Dueñas Veloz as their representative. The State appointed María Fernanda Álvarez Alcívar, as its Agent, and Carlos Alfonso Espín Arias and Jorge Palacios Salcedo, as Deputy Agents. 8 Cf. Case of Villarroel Merino et al. v. Ecuador. Order of the President of the Court of December 8, 2020. Available at: http://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/asuntos/villarroel_y_otros_08_12_20.pdf. 9 4