7 34. On June 25, 2003, the Secretariat forwarded to the State the sworn written statements submitted by the Commission and reiterated that, in accordance with the fifth operative paragraph of the Order of the President of April 22, 2003 (supra para. 29), it had 20 days to present any comments it deemed pertinent. 35. On June 26, 2003, the State presented its comments on possible reparations and costs (supra paras. 24 and 26), after having requested an extension to present them, which had been granted, on the instructions of the President. 36. On July 2, 2003, the President of the Court issued an Order in which he decided to convene the Inter-American Commission and the State to a public hearing to be held at the Bougainvillea Hotel (Bromelias Room), located in Santo Domingo de Heredia, Costa Rica, on September 15, 2003, to hear the final oral arguments on merits and possible reparations and costs, and also the statements of the witnesses and the reports of the expert witnesses proposed by the Inter-American Commission. It also established a time limit for the Commission and the State to submit their final written arguments. 37. On July 23, 2003, the State submitted a communication in which it forwarded its comments on the sworn written statements presented by the Commission (supra paras. 29, 33 and 34). 38. On September 8, 2003, the Commission submitted a communication to which it attached a copy of a communication of September 4, 2003, from the Colombian Jurists Commission, the representative of the alleged victims and their next of kin. In this communication, the Inter-American Commission, based on Article 19 of the Statute of the Court and on the arguments presented by the Colombian Jurists Commission, informed the Court of its opinion on the supervening existence of certain impediments for Rafael Nieto Navia to exercise the post of Judge ad hoc in the case. 39. On September 8, 2003, the Court issued an Order in which it decided: 1. To suspend the public hearing on merits and possible reparations and costs […] and also the time limit granted to the parties to present their final written arguments, owing to the Inter-American Commission’s request that Judge ad hoc Rafael Nieto Navia be disqualified. 2. To forward the communication of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of September 8, 2003, and its respective attachments to the Judge ad hoc, so that he may present his comments on them within six weeks of receiving this communication. 3. To transmit the […] Order to the State of Colombia and to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, for their information. 40. On October 6, 2003, Rafael Nieto Navia forwarded a communication with its respective attachments, in which he indicated that “[he did] not consider that any impediment existed for him [to exercise the function of Judge ad hoc,], but in the interests of transparency, he le[ft] the Colombian Government free to appoint another judge” in this case. 41. On October 20, 2003, on the instructions of the President, the Secretariat granted the State 30 days to appoint a Judge ad hoc to take part in the consideration of this case.