7 2. When a party enters a case at a later stage of the proceedings, it shall take up the proceedings at that stage. 31. During the public hearing, the representatives submitted a document titled “Skeleton Argument on behalf of [Mr.] Winston Caesar” and the Commission submitted a document titled “Oral Submissions […] on merits and possible reparations and costs”, as well as Mr. Caesar’s medical records from the Port of Spain Hospital, as an exhibit to the October 5, 2004 affidavit of Dr. Robert Ferris; and four exhibits to the July 13, 2004 affidavit of Mr. Andrew Coyle. 32. On December 6, 2004, following the instructions of the President and in accordance with Article 45(2) of the Rules of Procedure, the Secretariat required Trinidad and Tobago to submit, no later than January 15, 2005, all of Mr. Winston Caesar’s medical records from the prisons in which he was incarcerated and where he also received medical treatment, including those relating to his medical condition and treatment prior to and following the execution of his sentence of corporal punishment. The abovementioned documents were not submitted to the Court. 33. On December 13 and 16, 2004, the representatives and the Commission, respectively, presented their final written arguments on merits and possible reparations and costs. The State did not present any final written arguments. V PREVIOUS CONSIDERATIONS 34. The State did not appear in the proceedings before the Commission nor before the Court. Nevertheless, the Court has, of its own motion, taken the necessary measures to complete consideration of the case and, having evaluated the arguments and the evidence tendered during the proceedings by the Inter-American Commission and by the representatives, now delivers its judgment. 35. In its final written arguments the Commission invoked Article 38(2) of the Court’s Rules of Procedure, and the Court deems it pertinent to examine the scope and effect of its relevance to the circumstances of the present case. 36. Article 38(2) of the Rules of Procedure provides: In its answer, the respondent must state whether it accepts the facts and claims or whether it contradicts them, and the Court may consider accepted those facts that have not been expressly denied and the claims that have not been expressly contested. 37. The Court has held in previous cases that when a State does not specifically contest the Application, the facts on which it remains silent are presumed to be true, provided that the evidence before the Court is found to be consistent with those facts.7 In recent cases in which the State has presented no defense and has failed to appear at the hearings, the Court has ruled: 7 Cf. Hilaire, Constantine, Benjamin et al. Case. Judgment of June 21, 2002. Series C No. 94, para. 67; The "Street Children" Case (Villagrán Morales et al.), Judgment of November 19, 1999, Series C No. 63, para. 68; and Godínez-Cruz Case. Judgment of January 20, 1989, Series C No. 5, para. 144.