6 10. Public hearing. In an order of the President of the Court of November 21, 2016,4 it was decided, inter alia: (a) to call the parties to a public hearing5 to receive the statements of the presumed victim, and two expert witnesses; one proposed by the Commission and the other by the State, and (b) to require, pursuant to the principle of procedural economy and the authority granted by Article 50(1) of the Court’s Rules of Procedure, that two expert witnesses, one proposed by the State6 and the other by the representatives,7 provide their opinions by affidavit.8 The public hearing was held on February 7, 2017, in San José, Costa Rica, during the 117th regular session of the Court.9 During the hearing, the Court received the statements of the presumed victim, Mr. Lagos del Campo, expert witness Damián Loreti proposed by the Commission, and expert witness César Gonzáles Hunt proposed by the State. It also heard the final oral arguments of the representatives and the State, and the final oral observations of the Commission. 11. Final written arguments and observations. On March 8, 2017, the State and the representatives presented their final written arguments with annexes, and the Commission presented its final written observations. On March 9, 2017, the Court’s Secretariat forwarded the annexes to the final written arguments to the parties and the Commission and asked them to remit any observations they deemed pertinent. In a communication of March 20, 2017, the representatives presented observations on some of the annexes. 12. Disbursements in application of the Legal Assistance Fund. On April 7, 2017, the Secretariat, on the instructions of the President of the Court, forwarded information to the State on the disbursements made in application of the Legal Assistance Fund in this case and, as provided for in article 5 of the Rules for the Operation of the Fund, granted it a time frame to present any observations it deemed pertinent. The State presented its observations on April 17, 2017. 13. Deliberation of the case. The Court began deliberating this judgment on May 18, 2017, and continued on August 29, 2017. III JURISDICTION 14. The Court has jurisdiction to hear this case pursuant to Article 62(3) of the American Convention, because Peru ratified the American Convention on July 28, 1978, and accepted the contentious jurisdiction of the Court on January 21, 1981. http://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/asuntos/lagos_fv_16.pdf. Case of Lagos del Campo v. Peru. Call to a public hearing. Order of the President of the Court of November 21, 2016. Available at: http://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/asuntos/ lagos_21_11_16.pdf 4 Due to scheduling problems, in a Secretariat note of December 8, 2016, the public hearing in this case was rescheduled for February 7, 2017, at 9 a.m. Also, the meeting prior to the hearing was re-scheduled for February 6 at the seat of the Court. Consequently, the Court established the date of March 8, 2017, as the deadline for presentation of the final written arguments and final written observations. 5 6 In a communication of January 30, 2017, the State withdrew its offer of the expert opinion of Omar Sar Suárez. 7 The affidavit of Carlos Alberto Jibaja Zárate was received on January 30, 2017. The President of the Court declared access to the Victims’ Legal Assistance Fund of the Inter-American Court admissible and determined that financial assistance would be provided to cover the necessary transportation and accommodation expenses for the presumed victim, Mr. Lagos del Campo, to appear before the Court to give his statement during the public hearing, and also for the reasonable expenses required for the preparation and mailing of the affidavit of expert witness Carlos Alberto Jibaja Zárate offered by the representatives. 8 There appeared at this hearing: (a) for the Inter-American Commission: Edison Lanza, Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, Silvia Serrano Guzmán, Adviser, and Ona Flores, Adviser; (b) for the representatives of the presumed victim: Christian Henry Huaylinos Camacuari and Caroline Dufour, and (c) for the State: Iván Arturo Bazán Chacón, Sofía Janett Donaires Vega and Silvana Lucía Gómez Salazar. 9