protected under the American Convention was in effect for the State on the date the facts alleged in the petition were said to have occurred. 23. Finally, the Commission is competent rationae materiae because the petition alleges violations of human rights protected by the American Convention. 2. Exhaustion of domestic remedies 24. Under Article 46.1.a of the American Convention, for a petition lodged under Article 44 of the Convention to be admissible, the remedies under domestic law must have been pursued and exhausted in accordance with generally recognized principles of international law. The purpose of the rule requiring exhaustion of domestic remedies is to allow the national authorities to take cognizance of the alleged violation of a Convention-protected right and, where appropriate, to resolve the matter before an international forum takes up the case. The record shows that the punishable offense occurred on May 19, 1997, and that a police investigation and judicial inquiry were instituted. The court inquiry is still underway. The record also shows that on October 9, 2001, the District Judge of Pilar, Nieto Xavier de Lira, nullified all proceedings subsequent to 259 of the court record. The examining phase of the criminal case had to be conducted again. Once all these proceedings were completed, on September 15, 2003 –almost 6 years after the crime was committed- the very same judge issued a ruling in which he found probable cause to prosecute the case against José Caetano da Silva and Severino Lima da Silva, and bound them over for trial by jury. However, the observations filed by the petitioners on October 24, 2005, on the State’s response to the petition, reveal that in November 2004, the court in question decided that only Severino da Silva should stand trial, since José Caetano da Silva had not been properly notified of the indictment accusing him of the commission of a punishable offense, as shown in Annex F. The record also shows that on March 16, 2005, the Public Prosecutor’s Office entered the indictment against Severino da Silva, and the jury trial was set for September 21, 2005; however, when the day for the trial arrived, it was postponed until December 20, 2005, because the defendant was not represented by counsel. In this regard, the Commission has found that as by the time the petition is examined, 9 (nine) years have passed without the domestic courts settling the case, then this constitutes an “unwarranted delay” in rendering a final judgment which, under Article 46.2.c of the Convention and Article 37.2 of the Commission’s Rules of Procedure, is grounds for the exception to the rule requiring exhaustion of local remedies 2. 2 I/A Court H.R., Bámaca Velásquez Case. Judgment of November 25, 2000. Series C No. 70, para. 191, The Mayagna (Sumo) Awas Tingni Community Case. Judgment of August 31, 2001. Series C No. 79, par. 114; Case of the “Five Pensioners”. 6