9 16) On October 19, 2000, the Secretariat of the Court (hereinafter “the Secretariat”), following the preliminary examination of the application by the President of the Court, notified the State of the application and its annexes. On the same date, the Secretariat, following instructions of the President, informed the State of its right to designate an ad hoc judge pursuant to Articles 18 of its Rules of Procedure and 10(3) of the Statute of the Court (hereinafter “the Statute”). 17) On December 9, 2000, Trinidad and Tobago submitted a preliminary objection to compulsory jurisdiction of the Court in this case. 18) On December 11, 2000, the Secretariat acknowledged receipt of the State’s communication of December 9 of the same year, transmitted to the Commission said communication and informed the parties that the President of the Court, following the precedent of the Constantine et al. case5, decided to waive the convening of a special hearing on the preliminary objection in the present case. 19) On January 11, 2001, the Commission replied to the State’s brief on preliminary objection, which reply was transmitted to Trinidad and Tobago on January 15, of the same year. 20) On May 7, 2001, the Secretariat received from the Commission copies of two decisions pertinent to cases on the imposition of the “mandatory death penalty”, issued by the United Nations Human Rights Committee and the Court of Appeals for the Eastern Caribbean. These decisions were transmitted to the State on May 15, 2001. VI JURISDICTION 21) Trinidad and Tobago deposited its instrument of ratification to the American Convention on May 28, 1991. On the same date, the State recognized the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court. 22) On May 26, 1998, Trinidad and Tobago denounced the Convention and pursuant to Article 78 of the same, this denunciation took effect one year later, on May 26, 1999. The facts, to which the instant case refers, occurred prior to the effective date of the State’s denunciation. Consequently, the Court has jurisdiction, under the terms of Articles 78(2) and 62(3) of the Convention, to entertain the present case and render a judgment on the State’s preliminary objection. 5 The case Constantine et al. was submitted to the Court by the Inter-American Commission on February 22, 2000, and refers to the alleged violation, on the part of Trinidad and Tobago, of Articles 4 (Right to Life), 5 (Right to Humane Treatment), 7 (Right to Personal Liberty), 8 (Right to a Fair Trial), and 25 (Right to Judicial Protection), of the American Convention, in relation to Articles 1 (Obligation to Respect Rights), and 2 (Domestic Legal Effects) of the same, as a result of arrests, trials, accusations, and death sentences of 24 alleged victims, under a law that “mandates the imposition of the death penalty” for all persons found guilty of murder. On September 1, 2000, the Commission waived the convocation of a hearing on the State’s preliminary objection in the Constantine et al. Case. The State did not present observations in this respect and on October 9, 2000, the President of the Court submitted an Order in which he decided: 1. To grant the request of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to waive the convening of a special hearing on the preliminary objection raised by the State of Trinidad and Tobago in the present case. 2. To continue with the consideration of the Constantine et al. case at its present phase.