6 17. On May 20, 1998, the Commission presented its observations, in which it requested the Court to reject “the preliminary objections as they were inadmissible and time-barred” and order “the proceeding on the merits of the case to continue”. 18. On June 29, 1998, the State presented its reply to the application. 19. On December 14, 1998, the President summoned the State and the Commission to a public hearing to be held on January 27, 1999, to hear their points of view on the preliminary objections filed by the former. Furthermore, the President summoned Antonio Ducreux Sánchez, Deputy Minister of Work of Panama and a witness proposed by the State, to make a statement during the hearing. 20. On January 19, 1999, the State appointed Jorge Federico Lee as Deputy Agent. 21. On January 19, 1999, Rolando Adolfo Reyna Rodríguez, in his capacity as Judge ad hoc in the case, informed the Court that he “had participated […] [in] the claim JORGE A. MARTINEZ vs. INSTITUTE OF HYDRAULIC RESOURCES AND ELECTRIFICATION which he had dismissed owing to want of jurisdiction without beginning to hear the case”. Likewise, he advised that he “[would be] performing the function of International Maritime Affairs in the Republic of Panama”. Lastly, he requested the Court to “determine if [the facts described above] are grounds for impediment”. 22. On January 19, 1999, following the Court’s instructions, the Secretariat requested Rolando Adolfo Reyna Rodríguez to provide information on “[the c]haracteristics and objective of the proceeding identified as Jorge A. Martínez vs. Institute of Hydraulic Resources and Electrification, in which […] he participated as President of Settlement and Decision Board No. 4”, and about the “[l]ocation in the structure of the State of Panama of the ‘International Maritime Affairs’ office or unit”. 23. On January 22, 1999, in reply to the request dated the previous day, Rolando Adolfo Reyna Rodríguez informed the Court that the proceeding in which he took part as President of Settlement and Decision Board No. 4, was based on the labor claim filed by several of the workers dismissed under Law 25, which he had rejected for want of jurisdiction. Likewise, he advised that “in Panama, [the] maritime authority is an autonomous institution devoted to all matters relating to merchant ships”. 24. The same day, the Court issued an order in which it decided: 1. To declare that Rolando Adolfo Reyna Rodríguez is prevented from exercising the function of Judge ad hoc in the instant case. 2. To continue hearing the case with its actual composition. 3. To notify this decision to Rolando Adolfo Reyna Rodríguez. 25. The public hearing on preliminary objections was held at the seat of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic of Costa Rica on January 27, 1999. There appeared before the Court for the Republic of Panama: