and on February 4, 2000 the Court issued the respective judgment.1 Finally, on December 6, 2001 the Court rendered judgment on the merits of the case, in which it: DECLARE[D]: 1. That the State’s responsibility for the deaths of Artemio Pantoja Ordóñez, Hernán Javier Cuarán Muchavisoy, Julio Milciades Cerón Gómez, Wilian Hamilton Cerón Rojas and Edebraes Norberto Cerón Rojas, corresponding to the violation of Article 4 of the American Convention on Human Rights, was established in the two definitive judgments delivered by the Administrative Law Court of the Council of State on December 14, 1993 and January 15, 1996. [AND] DECIDE[D]: 2. That the State is responsible for the death of N.N./Moisés or N.N./Moisés Ojeda, in violation of Article 4 of the American Convention on Human Rights. 3. That there is insufficient evidence to determine whether Hernán Lizcano Jacanamejoy died in a skirmish or was extrajudicially executed by agents of the State, in violation of Article 4 of the American Convention on Human Rights. 4. That the State violated, to the detriment of the relatives of Artemio Pantoja Ordóñez, Hernán Javier Cuarán Muchavisoy, Julio Milciades Cerón Gómez, Wilian Hamilton Cerón Rojas, Edebraes Norverto Cerón Rojas, NN/ Moisés or NN/ Moisés Ojeda and Hernán Lizcano Jacanamejoy, the right to judicial guarantees and to judicial protection, recognized in Articles 8(1) and 25(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights. 5. To open the reparations phase, to which end it commissions its President to duly adopt any measures necessary. II PROCEDURE DURING THE REPARATIONS STAGE 2. On December 20, 2001 the President of the Court (hereinafter “the President”), in compliance with the order set forth in operative paragraph five of the judgment on the merits, decided to grant the next of kin of the victims and the Commission a common term until February 5, 2002 to submit their arguments and evidence for purposes of establishing reparations and legal costs. He also granted Colombia, once that term had expired, 45 days time to submit its observations and evidence to determine reparations and legal costs. 3. The term granted was extended twenty days, and on February 25, 2002 the representatives of the next of kin of the victims filed their brief on reparations. The Commission also filed its brief on reparations on February 26, 2002. Said briefs were forwarded to the State on March 7 of that same year. 4. On April 12, 2002 the Secretariat of the Court (hereinafter “the Secretariat”), following instructions of the President, asked the representatives of the next of kin of the victims and the State to supply several documents as evidence to facilitate adjudication, pursuant to Article 44(1) of the Rules of Procedure. 5. On April 24, 2002 the President issued an Order in which he summoned the parties to a public hearing to be held at the seat of the Court on June 14 of that year, to hear testimonial evidence offered, the opinion of the expert witness 1 Cf. Las Palmeras Case. Preliminary Objections. February 4, 2000 Judgment. Series C No. 67.