4 (hereinafter “the President”), pursuant to the provisions of Article 35(1)(b) of the Rules of Procedure, served said application and its appendixes on the State and also notified the State of the term allowed to answer the application and to appoint its agents in the proceedings. 18. On May 20, 2004, pursuant to Article 35(1)(d) and (e) of the Rules of Procedure, the Secretariat served the application on Humberto Palamara-Iribarne, his representatives and the attorneys from CEJIL (hereinafter “the representatives”) and informed them the term within which the brief of requests, arguments and evidence should be filed (hereinafter “brief of requests and arguments”). 19. On June 16, 2004, the State appointed Amira Esquivel-Utreras as agent and Miguel Ángel González-Morales as deputy Agent. 20. On July 19, 2004, the representatives filed a brief of requests and arguments, attached documentary evidence and offered testimonies of witnesses and expert witnesses as evidence. 21. On September 16, 2004, the State filed the answer to the application and comments on the brief of requests and arguments, but no evidence was submitted. 22. On January 12, 2005, the Secretariat sent a note to Chile, based on the instructions of the President, to inform that, since Judge Cecilia Medina-Quiroga, Chilean citizen, excused herself from hearing this case, pursuant to Articles 19 of the Statute and 19 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court, the State had the right to appoint, within 30 days, an ad hoc judge to participate in the hearing of the instant case, pursuant to the provisions of Article 55(3) of the American Convention, Article 10(3) of the Statute of the Court and Article 18 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court. The State failed to make such appointment. 23. On March 18, 2005, the President issued an Order requiring Anne StewartOrlandini, Fernando Palamara-Stewart, Humberto Palamara-Stewart and Raimundo Palamara-Stewart, witnesses proposed by the representatives, to render their testimony through affidavits. The President further ordered Carlos Peña-Gonzalez, expert witness proposed by the Commission and the representatives, and Cristian Riego-Ramírez and María Inés Horvitz, expert witnesses proposed by the representatives, to render their expert opinions through affidavits. Likewise, in such Order, the President summoned the parties to attend a public hearing to be held in Asunción, seat of the Supreme Court of Paraguay, on May 9, 2005, to hear the final oral arguments regarding the merits and potential reparations and costs, and the testimony of Humberto Antonio Palamara-Iribarne, witness proposed by the Commission and the representatives, the testimony of Manuel González-Araya and Carlos Vega-Delgado, witnesses proposed by the representatives, and the report of Alex Avsolomovich-Callejas, expert witness proposed by the Commission and the representatives. In such Order, likewise, the President informed the parties that the term to submit their final written arguments on the merits, reparations, and costs would expire on June 9, 2005. 24. On April 6, 2005, the representatives filed a brief requesting, among other things, “[t]hat the applicants be authorized to allow the expert witness Cristian Riego