I INTRODUCTION OF THE CASE AND PURPOSE OF THE DISPUTE 1. The case submitted to the Court. On July 11, 2019, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Inter-American Commission” or “the Commission”) submitted to the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court, in accordance with Articles 51 and 61 of the American Convention, the case of “Márcia Barbosa de Souza and her family concerning the Federative Republic of Brazil” (hereinafter “the State”, “the State of Brazil” or “Brazil”). According to the Commission, the dispute relates to the alleged situation of impunity surrounding the death of Márcia Barbosa de Souza, in June 1998, at the hands of the then state deputy, Mr. Aércio Pereira de Lima. The Commission concluded that: i) “parliamentary immunity as defined in the domestic regulations” resulted in a discriminatory delay in the criminal proceedings, ii) “the fact that the investigation and [the] criminal trial for the death of Márcia Barbosa de Souza took more than nine years violated the guarantee of reasonable time and constituted a denial of justice” iii) “the evidentiary deficiencies were not resolved, nor were all the lines of investigation exhausted, a situation that was incompatible with the duty to investigate with due diligence” and iv) the murder of Márcia Barbosa de Souza, as a consequence of an act of violence, together with the failings and delays in the investigations and the criminal proceedings, affected the mental integrity of her next of kin. 2. Procedure before the Commission. The procedure before the Commission was as follows: a. Petition. On March 28, 2000, the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), the Movimento Nacional de Direitos Humanos (MNDH) /Regional Nordeste and the Gabinete de Assessoria Jurídica às Organizações Populares (GAJOP) filed the initial application on behalf of the alleged victims. b. Admissibility Report. On July 26, 2007, the Commission adopted Admissibility Report No. 38/07 (hereinafter the “Admissibility Report” or “Report No. 38/07), in which it concluded that the initial petition was admissible. c. Merits Report. On February 12, 2019, the Commission issued Merits Report No. 10/19 (hereinafter “Merits Report” or “Report No. 10/19”), pursuant to Article 50 of the Convention, in which it reached a series of conclusions1 and made various recommendations to the State. d. Notification to the State. On April 11, 2019, the Merits Report was notified to the State, which was granted two months to report on its compliance with the recommendations. The State submitted a report in which it expressed its willingness to comply with the recommendations, but did not present a specific proposal in this regard. Furthermore, it did not request an extension. 3. Submission to the Court. On July 11, 2019, the Commission submitted to the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court all the facts and alleged human rights violations described in the The Commission concluded that the State is responsible for the violation of the rights to personal integrity, judicial guarantees, equality and non-discrimination and judicial protection, established in Articles 5(1), 8(1), 24 and 25(1) of the American Convention, in relation to the right to life (Article 4 of the Convention) and the obligations established in Articles 1(1) and 2 of the same instrument, to the detriment of M.B.S. and S.R.S., mother and father of Márcia Barbosa de Souza. The Commission also concluded that Brazil violated Article 7 of the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women (hereinafter “Convention of Belém do Pará”) in respect of Márcia Barbosa de Souza. 1 -4-