1 Inter-American Court of Human Rights Case of Herrera-Ulloa v. Costa Rica Judgment of July 2, 2004 (Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and Costs) In the Case of Herrera-Ulloa, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (hereinafter “the Court” or “the InterAmerican Court”), composed of the following judges *: Sergio García Ramírez, President; Alirio Abreu Burelli, Vice President; Oliver Jackman, Judge; Antônio A. Cançado Trindade. Judge; Cecilia Medina Quiroga, Judge; Diego García-Sayán, Judge, and Marco Antonio Mata Coto, Judge Ad Hoc; also present, Pablo Saavedra Alessandri, Secretary; and Emilia Segares Rodríguez, Deputy Secretary, pursuant to articles 29, 37, 56, 57 and 58 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court (hereinafter “the Rules of Court”) ** and Article 63(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Convention” or “the American Convention”), deliver the following judgment. I INTRODUCTION OF THE CASE 1. On January 28, 2003, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Commission” or “the Inter-American Commission”) filed an application with the Court against the State of Costa Rica (hereinafter “the State” or “Costa Rica”) based on petition No. 12,367, received at the Commission’s Secretariat on March 1, 2001. 2. The Commission filed the application pursuant to Article 51 of the American Convention, for the Court to decide whether the State had violated Article 13 (Freedom of Thought and Expression), in combination with the obligations set forth in articles 1(1) (Obligation to Respect Rights) and 2 (Domestic Legal Effects) of the * Judge Manuel E. Ventura Robles, a Costa Rican national, was not a member of the bench for purposes of this case; by the time he was sworn in as a member of the Court, Costa Rica had already designated a judge ad hoc, pursuant to Article 10 of the Statute of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. ** The present judgment is delivered in accordance with the Rules of Procedure that the Court approved at its XLIX regular session, by order dated November 24, 2000, which entered into force on June 1, 2001, and in accordance with the partial amendment that the Court approved at its LXI regular session, in a November 25, 2003 order that entered into force on January 1, 2004.